Terms Which Have Disappeared

[tonyb]

And swearing often is a sure identifier of a native speaker of any language because you might know the swear words in some other language but it seems as if there's a certain vehemence that only a native speaker can attain.

It can be, um, entertaining, to hear a non-native speaker who has picked up much of his or her vocabulary in the company of people who routinely swear. That non-native English speaker might not know not to say certain words in certain company. Saying in good humor to a longtime friend, "c'mon, mother f***er, let's get this show on the road" is quite different in kind than uttering the same phrase to a police officer.

Me, I'll adjust my diction to suit my immediate surroundings. I see a person almost daily who just plain does not swear, leastwise never that I've heard. So I avoid using certain words and phrases in her company. I like this person just fine; she's good and decent and having her around beats not having her around, so I wish her to remain comfortable in my company. I'm not being at all untrue to myself by doing so, either. I'm just greasing the social gears.

 

[tonyb]

I’ve said this before, but as a kid of about 9 or 10. I remember running in to the kitchen & asking my mom..
“what does frog you mean?"

I was so naive ! :eusa_doh:

All my mom said was ... “never mind, don’t play with those rowdy kids”.

And I began to learned about sex from the dirty jokes some of the guys told in elementary.
I was about 10 & had no idea, but laughed just the same. I didn’t want them to make fun of me.
It took a while to comprehend & I could never imagine my mom & dad getting naked & doing such things.
This happens when folks don’t explain things about Life ! :eeek:

"Sex" was a four-letter word when I was a kid. People spoke of such things, when they spoke of it at all, in euphemisms and hushed tones. It was no wonder, then, that so many people grew up thinking there was something inherently "dirty" in it, and that there was something fundamentally shameful in the wholly normal sexual longing that permeates a typical adolescent male's every waking moment, and even a few non-waking ones. I have no reason to think I am at all untypical in that I was through the worst of that before I figured out what a crock of **** I had been fed. It wasn't until I was 17 until I grew more comfortable in my own skin.

 

[2jakes]

My first language was Spanish.
If you swear to me in English & throw in a word about mother in there, we could have a problem.
You do it in Spanish...you better get ready because I will do my best to put some hurt to your
mouth.

 

[tonyb]

Sticks and stones, man.

It's all contextual. "Mother f***er" is practically a term of endearment in certain circles. As is the "N" word in certain circles, under certain circumstances. It is of course wise to maintain awareness of just which circle one is in.

 

[p51]

But if you let out with a G-D IT! in public, or call someone a stinking SOB, people look away in horror.

My Dad said when he was a kid in the late 40s, someone called my Grandfather (a WW1 vet who had a very hard upbringing and didn't put up with much from people) a SOB, and he knocked the guy out with one punch. dad said that was the one thing you really never wanted to say to the man.

I mostly hear the F word from young people among themselves. Hardly is it used in a conversation with adults.

It became extremely popular among servicemen in Vietnam, so much so that returning vets couldn't find jobs because in interviews, every other word was that one (and polite society really hadn't caught up yet at the time). I hear people well into their 60s, who were young back then, saying it all the time.

 

[2jakes]

When I got back, I had no problem adjusting.
But then I was never one to follow the crowd.
During my tour of duty, it was mostly one or two fellows who had the same idea about things & life in general.
I detested joining the majority of guys who on payday would spend it all on booze, drugs & bar-flys.
I did what I enjoyed whether at home or overseas & that was not what I considered fun or relaxing.

 

[ingineer]

My Father was a Chief Petty Officer, rough an tuff
He told me don't swear in front of the men if you want to command them.
The swearing looses its impact if you use it all the time.
i found this to be a fact.
When i was working in a factory , i saw a couple of machines running with the tape upside down ,
ran into the foreman's office and said "what the blank is going on with lines 3 and seven
All i saw was elbows an shoe soles running to those lines.
Later i asked what happened to the head foreman.
He told me you must have been really mad since we never heard you swear before
Cultural differences abounds , if you really want to insult a Russian call him uncultured Nekultorrney.
Russians have a immense form of swearing called Mat = mother the scatological terms are almost meaningless.
Yes,P51, I remember Doom on you

 

[Zombie_61]

...The F-word is common language in every walk of life, and you can call someone a mutha-F to their face and get away with it. But if you let out with a G-D IT! in public, or call someone a stinking SOB, people look away in horror.

...I mostly hear the F word from young people among themselves. Hardly is it used in a conversation with adults. Mostly I hear vagrants say it. I never heard it at work or in the stores or restaurants unless the person was angry. but not in everyday conversation...

In this part of southern California I hear people swear quite often, but only rarely have I seen or heard anyone within earshot object to it either visually or verbally unless there are children present. [huh]

...I'll add that when I do swear, it's very much on purpose. Because otherwise, what's the point?

Bingo. With some of my family and friends swearing is fairly common; usually reserved for comedic effect, but not always. With others, I'll swear only if it serves to emphasize my point, or not at all. When in doubt, I don't out of respect for those around me, simple as that. My family was well-versed in "French" when I was growing up, but Mom and Dad made it very clear that there were times when it was appropriate and times when it wasn't, and I still adhere to their guidance.

 

[p51]

My Father was a Chief Petty Officer, rough an tuff
He told me don't swear in front of the men if you want to command them.
The swearing looses its impact if you use it all the time.

Yep, I never dropped F-bombs at any time I was dealing with people under my command. As a Company Commander, I don't think I so much as cursed. for the very reasons your Dad didn't. I'd been cussed out and after the first 5 seconds, you just hear the "waa waaa wa wa waa..." sound of Charlie Brown's teacher on TV.
Had someone who stole stuff from my arms room once and before I handed him over to the MPs, I told him exactly what we were gonna do to him. I never raise my voice but once and I never cursed. All the color drained out of him because most of that rant, I was about the same tone, volume and demeanor as I normally am. I got pretty cold-blooded with what I said we'd do with him, too. The NCO with him later said, "You scared the [poop] out of him, sir, because he expected you to yell but you only did once..."

Yes,P51, I remember Doom on you

I once got into a tangled mess with the Vietnamese kids near the local airport, walking down the road and blocking cars in each direction. When people would yell at them, they'd just jibber in Vietnamese and it sure looked like they were playing the, "No speekee Engrish" card to act any way they wanted. I was driving my WW2 Jeep back from an event and as I got close to them, they started going off in their native language, with uncontrolled grins. I could tell they were playing some kind of game with the drivers. Not having windows or a top, I was getting worried and I reached for my trench knife on my web belt (I was wearing a WW2 uniform but had no live ammo for my pistol which was thankfully put away). As I got close, I leaned up over the windshield, waved to one side and yelled, "DOOM ON YOU!" You should have seen the looks on their faces. They parted like the red sea. I know, that wasn't a smart move, but I had no idea what to do or expect.

 

[2jakes]

In high school, where I had different teachers for each subject. The class period lasted about an hour.

I recall that in math the teacher would enter the classroom with all kinds of rowdy, noisy, goofing off.
The teacher clearly upset would raise his voice & tried his best to keep it civil. But after while the
class would start up again & he would yell for quiet & was highly upset.


My next class, the same thing occurred.

But in this case, it was another teacher.

He walked in & just stood there staring at the class.
No words or shouting...he just stood there.
Within seconds the class would get dead quiet.
And for the rest of the period it remain quiet.

The difference;
One time, this teacher grabbed a kid by the collar, shoved him to the back
the room that had a sink.
He made him scrub his face with soap & water to clean his dirty face.

No swearing or yelling was needed by this man .
Just that look of his & what he could do, said it all.

 

[FedoraFan112390]

"She gave me the air" heard this one on an old Rodney Dangerfield standup, basically meaning the girl dropped him, apparently it was slang from the 30s?

 

[p51]

I remember hearing "the air" in a Little Rascals short many years ago... It had the same context. I wonder where that came from? Giving someone the air meant dumping them. Maybe it was a aviation context?

 

[2jakes]

swell tomato.
hotsy-totsy.
went to the petting pantry.
had a jorum of skee.
went to iron one’s shoelaces
pulled a Daniel Boone.

 

[Zombie_61]

I remember hearing "the air" in a Little Rascals short many years ago... It had the same context. I wonder where that came from? Giving someone the air meant dumping them. Maybe it was a aviation context?

A quick Google search yielded one website that explained the phrase originated in the year 1900, and that originally to "give (or get) the fresh air" meant you'd been fired from your job and shown to the door where you'd soon be outside in the fresh air. By the early 1920s "fresh" was dropped from the phrase, and around that same time the phrase also took on the meaning of the end of a romantic relationship.

 

[tonyb]

Innerestin'.

I wonder if youngsters know the meaning of "shown the door."

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Give him the air" was contemporaneous and interchangeable with "give him the gate" and "hand him the mitten."

 

[Bamaboots]

Innerestin'.

I wonder if youngsters know the meaning of "shown the door."

Contemporaneous with "don't let the door hit you where the good door split you". But I doubt the youngsters know either one.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Meanwhile, "give him the shaft" was all the rage with high school girls c. 1939. Meant the same thing as all of the above, but would be completely misinterpreted if used among modern folk.

 

[tonyb]

Meanwhile, "give him the shaft" was all the rage with high school girls c. 1939. Meant the same thing as all of the above, but would be completely misinterpreted if used among modern folk.

I don't recall ever not knowing that phrase, but I always took it to be a phallic reference.

Sorta like "putting the screws" to someone has a quite distinct connotation from "screwing" someone.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Or referring to a prison guard as a "screw."