Comments by thtownse

Show previous 200 comments...

  • Like peacenik, sputnik, no-goodnik, clinnik.

    December 11, 2009

  • wordnikgate - nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

    December 11, 2009

  • Aren't people sick of labeling every new political scandal whatever"-gate"? Cuz I sure am.

    December 11, 2009

  • Interesting, ruzuzu, however, it is not clear from OED Online whether "suck eggs" is used as a put-down. I believe if "go suck eggs" is used in such a way today it is because it is a substitute for the more vulgar counterpart, and that its meaning has therefore changed in light of the newer (1928 according to OED) usage of the word "suck". Furthermore, the Tom Sawyer reference seems to imply sucking eggs is a good thing, implying one has the courage to run up and steal eggs. Thanks for the comment.

    December 11, 2009

  • GrantBarrett: - I don't see your point at all. The USA Today article makes the vacuous statement that the word "sucks" has a non-sexual meaning - of course this is obvious. What I want to see is someone to provide a usage of the term "sucks" that can show a lineage to another sense of the word other than the homosexual oral sex provider sense, which also represents some negative association. I don't believe such a usage has ever existed outside the underlying denigration of homosexual male activity.

    My chain of reasoning is solid - male homosexual behavior of the "receptive" or "passive" kind is given negative connotations by the majority of human societies throughout history; thus references to such acts are used as derogatory phrases used to put down another person (or oneself) by implying that the other person practices such behavior and is therefore of lower status. Similar linguistic connections are made when someone says "f*ck you" or "we are screwed".

    I am open to new evidence and will concede the point if it appears to be valid, but I don't think it exists.

    I did not mean to create such a controversy with this, but I must say I find this discussion most interesting - one of my favorite topics is swear words and their meaning. Also just swearing a lot, which unfortunately I do.

    December 11, 2009

  • You cannot seriously mean that society does not frown on male homosexual behavior? The origin of these kind of terms is in the lower status of a man who played the passive role in male-male sexual encounters - this is historically documented. Hence "sucks" became a generic put-down for a man and from there evolved into a general term for anything bad.

    December 10, 2009

  • Actually, this is an interesting word-related issue; I'd like to know what other people think about this.

    December 10, 2009

  • This list has a lot of potential!

    December 10, 2009

  • But it is never used to condemn women, only men. Society proscribes the passive role in sex when men do it; surely you would agree with that?

    December 10, 2009

  • It is always easier to criticize than to suggest a better alternative, so I must confess I did not get that far in my thinking. Perhaps what bothers me other than the gay-slam aspect of it is its inherent vulgarity - to me it belongs in the "not-said-on-TV" set of words and phrases. I enjoy a good cuss frequently and don't like to see the value of my profanity cheapened by its increasing acceptability in popular culture. If I can't be offensive what's the point of cussing?

    It is derogatory against gay men because creates a connection with some bad thing (the thing that sucks) with a particular sex act, which in this context is between two men. It is a gay act because that is the kind of sex which we as a society put down. The same thing happens with "f*** you" and "a**hole". All of these things put down a homosexual act and are used in a negative way.

    December 10, 2009

  • I am suck and tired of OOPS sick and tired of this expression. It is now widely accepted in normal conversation and print despite its ignominious definition, and to say nothing of the pejorative meaning (putting down homosexual men) that drives its usage.

    December 9, 2009

  • This is one of my most hated words.

    December 4, 2009

  • Er, wha'?

    November 17, 2009

  • Excellent - clearly he did not want to live in a bleak house.

    November 17, 2009

  • This phrase is one I have never heard or read in a non-dumb context, hence its inclusion as a dumbism.

    October 9, 2008

  • I like this word in its adjectival usage.

    September 4, 2008

  • Also interesting considering how words are often expanded in today's usage, such as the dreaded "leveraging" or even worse, "visioning".

    August 29, 2008

  • Fantastic! That is why I love etymology.

    August 13, 2008

  • No disrespect intended to women who are naturally concerned with the essence of this phrase - it is just one of those trite little expressions that I find amusing.

    August 13, 2008

  • Ugh.

    August 13, 2008

  • "covers the subject" - ha!

    August 13, 2008

  • This word was used by Rudyard Kipling to refer to a meeting or gathering. One can see the relationship with its 'current' meaning.

    August 13, 2008

  • Cool list sionnach. It really shows a way we like to combine concepts into phrases.

    August 13, 2008

  • What a dum word.

    August 12, 2008

  • I really hate this phrase - makes me cringe.

    August 11, 2008

  • I am surprised no one else has listed this overused annoying phrase. Maybe they were afraid of making me angry. But I listed it and now I have made myself angry.

    August 8, 2008

  • An article about this tune:

    http://www.hawkeyeherman.com/pdf/diddie_wa_diddie.pdf

    July 1, 2008

  • These citations may well be authentic, but this word in common usage is still bad English. I second the ARGH.

    June 30, 2008

  • YAY! I love this tune (Blind Blake, Leon Redbone) But do you know what Diddy Wah Diddy means?

    June 30, 2008

  • This is such an excellent phrase when you compare the composition of the planet Jupiter with that of earth.

    June 30, 2008

  • Yuck - I hate this one, and hear it all the time.

    June 30, 2008

  • Awesome - this phrase is used in "March of the Black Queen" by Queen, written by the late great Freddie Mercury. What does it mean though?

    June 30, 2008

  • I love it when people say this in a sentence: "she had had enough of his tomfoolery"

    June 26, 2008

  • At the risk of being sexist I just think it is so great that we use the word 'boob' for a body part - it's funny!

    June 26, 2008

  • This is the only word that sounds worse than 'genitals'.

    June 26, 2008

  • Almost any known euphemism is better-sounding that the actual word - come on people, that's why we have euphemisms in the first place!

    June 26, 2008

  • Not as in "Little Red Riding Herd"

    June 26, 2008

  • I am adding this phrase to Dumbisms because frankly I have had enough of it. Its usage has become so ingrained in the minds of to many people and at this moment I am having a hard time thinking of a time when I heard someone use it appropriately. Even when it is used correctly it is often in some context that makes me want to ask the speaker to please please stop talking now.

    June 20, 2008

  • Great list in the making - I hope you get tons more spam so you can add more to it. (kidding)

    I am particularly amused by the "from" names that are provided. Somehow the spam names are always just a bit off, and sometimes they are wildly off. Like "Fulgham Slager" or "Aurora Rushing".

    Have you seen any of the sites featuring poetry constructed entirely of spam? Greatly amusing.

    June 6, 2008

  • This is the name of a number of very different old-time fiddle tunes. I assume 'musk' refers to that delightful odor of greenbacks. If you'ns have more info on it please let us know.

    Although according to this (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=money%20musk) 'musk' has a different derivation (check it out chortle chortle)

    June 6, 2008

  • Thanks for listing - I love this 'word'!

    June 6, 2008

  • Of course, an extremely unhealthy lifestyle centered around drugs and booze is also unlucky.

    June 6, 2008

  • I mean, like, come on now?

    June 6, 2008

  • wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toot_Sweets): "The English expression toot sweet derives from the French phrase tout de suite (which means "immediately"). It first appears in English after the First World War, when, according to Mavens' Word of the Day, "many French words and expressions were borrowed by English-speaking soldiers."

    May 9, 2008

  • I'm glad this word has been listed a cupola times.

    May 6, 2008

  • I just think the use of the term 'surf' when speaking about the internet is dumb. Don't know why, it just is.

    April 18, 2008

  • See the dickens

    April 15, 2008

  • From http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-dic3.htm:

    (Q) From -----: “Do you know where the phrase hurts like the dickens comes from?�?

    (A) Let’s focus in on dickens as the important word here, since there are lots of different expressions with it in, such as what the dickens, where the dickens, the dickens you are!, and the dickens you say!

    It goes back a lot further than Charles Dickens, though it does seem to have been borrowed from the English surname, most likely sometime in the sixteenth century or before. (The surname itself probably derives from Dickin or Dickon, familiar diminutive forms of Dick.) It was — and still is, though people hardly know it any more — a euphemism for the Devil. It’s very much in the same style as deuce, as in old oaths like what the deuce! which contains another name for the Devil.

    The first person known to use it was that great recorder of Elizabethan expressions, William Shakespeare, in The Merry Wives of Windsor: “FORD: Where had you this pretty weathercock? MRS PAGE: I cannot tell what the dickens his name is my husband had him of�?. That pun relied on the audience knowing that Dickens was a personal name and that what the dickens was a mild oath which called on the Devil.

    April 15, 2008

  • From http://www.answers.com/topic/stomping-ground: "This term alludes to a traditional gathering place for horses or cattle, which stamp down the ground with their hooves. (Early 1800s)"

    April 14, 2008

  • It's like, is this the best way you can think of to express this idea?

    March 19, 2008

  • a bizniss cliche

    March 10, 2008

  • This sounds cool - please explain?

    February 23, 2008

  • Excellent! - (from Peanuts?)

    February 15, 2008

  • - a substitute for "off the top of your head"

    February 15, 2008

  • Vorpal - thanks for your comment about corporate-speak. I am at this minute enjoying a "Webinar" (I'm going to list that word on my hated words immediately) on SOA, and it is JARGON CITY! What a thrill!

    February 13, 2008

  • an overused cliche

    January 26, 2008

  • "Vorpal's Words" - excellent

    December 28, 2007

  • Crush them! Crush them all!

    December 28, 2007

  • YES!!

    December 22, 2007

  • Good one

    December 22, 2007

  • Excellent

    December 22, 2007

  • Good one

    December 22, 2007

  • Fantastic - thanks for doing this one!

    December 21, 2007

  • Why doesn't this word exist? I hear it as one word, I think it as one word, but when I write it as one word I get a little squiggly red line under it, which is most unsightly.

    December 7, 2007

  • Thanks, bilby. Sounds like a clear case of cross-pollination.

    December 7, 2007

  • What about the regular vaganza?

    December 7, 2007

  • Are we a Rush fan by any chance???

    December 7, 2007

  • Overheard spoken by someone of Eastern European birth

    December 7, 2007

  • That's flan-tastic. Thanks

    December 7, 2007

  • One of the things I enjoy about this dum cliche is that considering the degree of communication that must have existed between pre-pre-prehistoric societies, which was basically no communication, the wheel itself was surely reinvented many times.

    December 2, 2007

  • These kind of phrases all have a dark side too - they derive from an assumption that homosexual sex is wrong by common agreement. Not that I am recommending that people censor their speech but as linguists we must be mindful of the real meanings of words and phrases, right?

    October 24, 2007

  • I got this from the site guidelines. This is a one febsite.

    October 23, 2007

  • You make nice lists.

    October 23, 2007

  • One helluva list

    October 23, 2007

  • I love programming language grammar and the way it folds, spindles and mutilates English.

    October 23, 2007

  • When I was a kid I was always impressed by this word. It was notorious for being the world's longest word. It probably made your browser add a horizontal scroll bar. "Ha-ha" (Nelson from the Simpsons)

    October 23, 2007

  • Apparently this is some kind of pop culture rap music thing, but I heard it in a meeting at my company, so I associate with corporate culture's blunt lexicon.

    October 23, 2007

  • I am leaving a comment about myself!

    October 23, 2007