what the living fuck is THAT

sarra commented on the word what the living fuck is THAT

Started me thinking about 'the living fuck' ('annoys the living fuck out of me', etc. Is the form related to '(beat/thrash/knock/club/scare/verb) the living daylights out of'? Or instead 'the living God'/'the living Christ'? Ah — I'm thinking as I type here, I think it's indeed the last one. So:

the living Christ : the living fuck :: sweet mother of God : sweet mother of fuck.

Homework: find a word for the anti-mincing of oaths. (see minced oath)

(As this is a public site I should point out I'm a linguist and not an Antichrist.)

September 29, 2010

ruzuzu commented on the word what the living fuck is THAT

Is Antichrist a medical term?

September 29, 2010

thtownse commented on the word what the living fuck is THAT

sarra - isn't "living daylights" merely a politenessy version of "God" in this context?

September 29, 2010

sarra commented on the word what the living fuck is THAT

Sources reckon it's about consciousness and eyeballs. This makes sense, I promise (google it)

October 1, 2010

yarb commented on the word what the living fuck is THAT

I thought the living daylights referred to the guts - the lights. The integral parts.

October 2, 2010

bilby commented on the word what the living fuck is THAT

sarra dear, I'd be happy to vote for you as Antichrist if, you know, you felt like you needed a bit of a career change.

October 4, 2010

chained_bear commented on the word what the living fuck is THAT

I believe the lights are generally the lungs. Which kind of makes sense... if one has the lights (lungs) scared out of one, one can't breathe.

But I agree the consciousness/eyeballs angle works better.

And I almost typed "iballs." What a stupid word.

October 6, 2010

yarb commented on the word what the living fuck is THAT

Thanks, cb, I didn't realise that about the lights.

October 6, 2010

chained_bear commented on the word what the living fuck is THAT

I learned it from a Civil War journal called The Rebel Yell and the Yankee Hurrah. The gentleman (who was from Maine, if I recall) mentioned that on the march the new recruits had been offered refreshments by locals, and some were "city boys" and didn't know that eating the lights (lungs) of a cow wasn't going to be very satisfying.

October 7, 2010

sionnach commented on the word what the living fuck is THAT

Lights are indeed lungs. When I was growing up I used to have to pick up the lights from the butcher so that Pussy 3-legs wouldn't go hungry. Malnourished mongrel dogs would track me all the way home.

October 8, 2010