Rated "R" post
Sandra Dodd
Don't even read this if you don't care about the history of English
and REALLY don't read it if you don't like four-letter Saxon words of
great antiquity which very vaguely name female anatomy.
Anyone easily offended or under the age of 18 should wave off right
away.
In a Lilly Allen song she uses the word "twat" to rhyme with "chat"
and I thought maybe she was just doing it to force a rhyme or be
funny, but today I was watching Four Last Songs, a BBC movie (not one
of the greatest, but one...) and Rhys Ifans (who played the goofy
roommate in Notting Hill, which I watched last week) used it, without
needing it to rhyme with anything, but it would have rhymed with
hat. Nor with prat.
WHAT!? ... thought I, which rhymes with "twat" in my own dialect...
Really. I've liked that word my whole life (well, since I learned it,
when I was 12 or so), and have always thought it's just an elegant
(if nasty) word and of all the crude words for my own parts (not
having the parts with all the REALLY artsy crude names like "pecker"
and "nuts") it was by far my favorite.
So I thought if I could get to the age of nearly 54 and not know it
was pronounced differently in Britain, maybe there are people here
who didn't know that in my part of the U.S. (I'm guessing all of the
U.S., but how would I know??) it does not rhyme with "hat." Maybe in
Chicago where MOST "a" words seem to rhyme with an ugly-sounding hat...
So I have this question for Australians, New Zealanders and
Canadians. If for some reason you were to need to rhyme "twat," what
other words would you need? (Deb Lewis, I kinda hope you will do
your thing here, even though I suspect your accent is about like my
own...)
Oooh... I looked it up at etymonline, and they give two rhyming
examples which actually use "hat."
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=twat
Sandra
and REALLY don't read it if you don't like four-letter Saxon words of
great antiquity which very vaguely name female anatomy.
Anyone easily offended or under the age of 18 should wave off right
away.
In a Lilly Allen song she uses the word "twat" to rhyme with "chat"
and I thought maybe she was just doing it to force a rhyme or be
funny, but today I was watching Four Last Songs, a BBC movie (not one
of the greatest, but one...) and Rhys Ifans (who played the goofy
roommate in Notting Hill, which I watched last week) used it, without
needing it to rhyme with anything, but it would have rhymed with
hat. Nor with prat.
WHAT!? ... thought I, which rhymes with "twat" in my own dialect...
Really. I've liked that word my whole life (well, since I learned it,
when I was 12 or so), and have always thought it's just an elegant
(if nasty) word and of all the crude words for my own parts (not
having the parts with all the REALLY artsy crude names like "pecker"
and "nuts") it was by far my favorite.
So I thought if I could get to the age of nearly 54 and not know it
was pronounced differently in Britain, maybe there are people here
who didn't know that in my part of the U.S. (I'm guessing all of the
U.S., but how would I know??) it does not rhyme with "hat." Maybe in
Chicago where MOST "a" words seem to rhyme with an ugly-sounding hat...
So I have this question for Australians, New Zealanders and
Canadians. If for some reason you were to need to rhyme "twat," what
other words would you need? (Deb Lewis, I kinda hope you will do
your thing here, even though I suspect your accent is about like my
own...)
Oooh... I looked it up at etymonline, and they give two rhyming
examples which actually use "hat."
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=twat
Sandra
Kim H
"Twat"
In Australia twat rhymes with hot.
Kim
Original Message -----
From: Sandra Dodd
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, July 16, 2007 11:55 AM
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Rated "R" post
Don't even read this if you don't care about the history of English
and REALLY don't read it if you don't like four-letter Saxon words of
great antiquity which very vaguely name female anatomy.
Anyone easily offended or under the age of 18 should wave off right
away.
In a Lilly Allen song she uses the word "twat" to rhyme with "chat"
and I thought maybe she was just doing it to force a rhyme or be
funny, but today I was watching Four Last Songs, a BBC movie (not one
of the greatest, but one...) and Rhys Ifans (who played the goofy
roommate in Notting Hill, which I watched last week) used it, without
needing it to rhyme with anything, but it would have rhymed with
hat. Nor with prat.
WHAT!? ... thought I, which rhymes with "twat" in my own dialect...
Really. I've liked that word my whole life (well, since I learned it,
when I was 12 or so), and have always thought it's just an elegant
(if nasty) word and of all the crude words for my own parts (not
having the parts with all the REALLY artsy crude names like "pecker"
and "nuts") it was by far my favorite.
So I thought if I could get to the age of nearly 54 and not know it
was pronounced differently in Britain, maybe there are people here
who didn't know that in my part of the U.S. (I'm guessing all of the
U.S., but how would I know??) it does not rhyme with "hat." Maybe in
Chicago where MOST "a" words seem to rhyme with an ugly-sounding hat...
So I have this question for Australians, New Zealanders and
Canadians. If for some reason you were to need to rhyme "twat," what
other words would you need? (Deb Lewis, I kinda hope you will do
your thing here, even though I suspect your accent is about like my
own...)
Oooh... I looked it up at etymonline, and they give two rhyming
examples which actually use "hat."
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=twat
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
In Australia twat rhymes with hot.
Kim
Original Message -----
From: Sandra Dodd
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, July 16, 2007 11:55 AM
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Rated "R" post
Don't even read this if you don't care about the history of English
and REALLY don't read it if you don't like four-letter Saxon words of
great antiquity which very vaguely name female anatomy.
Anyone easily offended or under the age of 18 should wave off right
away.
In a Lilly Allen song she uses the word "twat" to rhyme with "chat"
and I thought maybe she was just doing it to force a rhyme or be
funny, but today I was watching Four Last Songs, a BBC movie (not one
of the greatest, but one...) and Rhys Ifans (who played the goofy
roommate in Notting Hill, which I watched last week) used it, without
needing it to rhyme with anything, but it would have rhymed with
hat. Nor with prat.
WHAT!? ... thought I, which rhymes with "twat" in my own dialect...
Really. I've liked that word my whole life (well, since I learned it,
when I was 12 or so), and have always thought it's just an elegant
(if nasty) word and of all the crude words for my own parts (not
having the parts with all the REALLY artsy crude names like "pecker"
and "nuts") it was by far my favorite.
So I thought if I could get to the age of nearly 54 and not know it
was pronounced differently in Britain, maybe there are people here
who didn't know that in my part of the U.S. (I'm guessing all of the
U.S., but how would I know??) it does not rhyme with "hat." Maybe in
Chicago where MOST "a" words seem to rhyme with an ugly-sounding hat...
So I have this question for Australians, New Zealanders and
Canadians. If for some reason you were to need to rhyme "twat," what
other words would you need? (Deb Lewis, I kinda hope you will do
your thing here, even though I suspect your accent is about like my
own...)
Oooh... I looked it up at etymonline, and they give two rhyming
examples which actually use "hat."
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=twat
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-but it would have rhymed with
hat. Nor with prat.-=-
I edited and rearranged and thereby botched.
I started off saying something else. The Nor was a vestigial "nor."
Sorry for any confusion.
-=In Australia twat rhymes with hot. -=-
Good. Then if I go to Australia I will understand at least one word
(though if someone's using that word while speaking to me, I
should've understood much more and earlier).
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
hat. Nor with prat.-=-
I edited and rearranged and thereby botched.
I started off saying something else. The Nor was a vestigial "nor."
Sorry for any confusion.
-=In Australia twat rhymes with hot. -=-
Good. Then if I go to Australia I will understand at least one word
(though if someone's using that word while speaking to me, I
should've understood much more and earlier).
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Cally Brown
from New Zealand - I've only heard it rhyme with hat.
Cally
Kim H wrote:
Cally
Kim H wrote:
> "Twat"
>
> In Australia twat rhymes with hot.
>
> Kim
>
[email protected]
In Canada, (at least in the Ottawa Valley in the east and Vancouver in the west), "twat" also rhymes with "hot".
My favorite word for said female parts is "quim" (old English circa 1600's, I think).
Robin B.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
My favorite word for said female parts is "quim" (old English circa 1600's, I think).
Robin B.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Robyn L. Coburn
<<<<> -=In Australia twat rhymes with hot. -=-
"What a twat!" = what an idiot.
Robyn L. Coburn
>I concur at least in Sydney, although I was going to say "squat".
> Good. Then if I go to Australia I will understand at least one word
> (though if someone's using that word while speaking to me, I
> should've understood much more and earlier). >>>>
"What a twat!" = what an idiot.
Robyn L. Coburn
magenta_mum
I first heard the rhymes with hot pronunciation, so that I originally
thought it spelled with an O rather than an A. Rhymes with hat would
be more literal, though. I wonder if there are regional variations
within this country (and others) due to colonisers from different
parts of jolly ol' Britain, and how class/levels of literacy might
have factored into the way the word was pronounced back then, whot, whot!
Jo R - also from Aotearoa / New Zealand
thought it spelled with an O rather than an A. Rhymes with hat would
be more literal, though. I wonder if there are regional variations
within this country (and others) due to colonisers from different
parts of jolly ol' Britain, and how class/levels of literacy might
have factored into the way the word was pronounced back then, whot, whot!
Jo R - also from Aotearoa / New Zealand
>
> from New Zealand - I've only heard it rhyme with hat.
> Cally
a_westaway
Sneaking out from lurkdom...
I'm in Brisbane, and i've mostly heard twat as rhyming with hot.
Friends who have travelled in England all prounounce it rhyming with
hat though, so i guess it's been transformed by the dialects of the
colonies. tomayto/ tomarto.
one of my favourites {i'm a scorpio, i have many} is spadger...her
masculine consort is the todger! i'm guessing it's English too.
my daughter and i use "yoni" mostly. i prefer the meaning of yoni to
the meaning of vagina {sheath}.
...alexandra...
I'm in Brisbane, and i've mostly heard twat as rhyming with hot.
Friends who have travelled in England all prounounce it rhyming with
hat though, so i guess it's been transformed by the dialects of the
colonies. tomayto/ tomarto.
one of my favourites {i'm a scorpio, i have many} is spadger...her
masculine consort is the todger! i'm guessing it's English too.
my daughter and i use "yoni" mostly. i prefer the meaning of yoni to
the meaning of vagina {sheath}.
...alexandra...
Ed Wendell
Well in the mid-west of USA twat, hot, what, shot, bought all rhyme.
OK so hubby from Denver is arguing with me over "what" - LOL He says it does not rhyme and the way he says it, it does not. I'm from Southern Illinois and the way I say "what" it does. Southern Illinois has many words that are indigenous to that area it seems - like a blend of mid-west and southern. Not just pronunciations but actual words. The one hubby laughs about the most is "tump" which means to tip and dump at the same time. Instead of "Ya all" we say "youens" Some of these words I cannot spell as we do not write that way but only speak that way.
Lisa W.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
OK so hubby from Denver is arguing with me over "what" - LOL He says it does not rhyme and the way he says it, it does not. I'm from Southern Illinois and the way I say "what" it does. Southern Illinois has many words that are indigenous to that area it seems - like a blend of mid-west and southern. Not just pronunciations but actual words. The one hubby laughs about the most is "tump" which means to tip and dump at the same time. Instead of "Ya all" we say "youens" Some of these words I cannot spell as we do not write that way but only speak that way.
Lisa W.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Deb Lewis
George Carlin famously rhymes twat with knot in a sweet little cheer
you can see and listen to here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpMPm914VY8
*** If for some reason you were to need to rhyme "twat," what
other words would you need? (Deb Lewis, I kinda hope you will do
your thing here***
Just what is that thing I do with twats? ....oh, wait....
I did write a little something about my seventh grade English
teacher, Ms. Bealafeld, "Bea as is bumble bee, "la" as in tra-la-
la, feld." (kind of a puny finish there, God, I hated her.)
Her brain is very like a twat
What goes in slides right back out
Explaining will be all for naught
Because her brain is like a twat.
I was thirteen and friend Judy had been shamed by Ms. Bealafeld for
being late. "Out" does not rhyme with twat in my dialect then or
now but I thought I was very clever (I have many bad rhymes about
teachers from those day). I mostly liked that nice finish of
the "T." It worked for me, anyway and it worked for Judy, in the
moment. <g>
If I were writing about a twat today I'd rhyme with snot or
distraught or dry rot or forgot. <g>
Deb Lewis
you can see and listen to here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpMPm914VY8
*** If for some reason you were to need to rhyme "twat," what
other words would you need? (Deb Lewis, I kinda hope you will do
your thing here***
Just what is that thing I do with twats? ....oh, wait....
I did write a little something about my seventh grade English
teacher, Ms. Bealafeld, "Bea as is bumble bee, "la" as in tra-la-
la, feld." (kind of a puny finish there, God, I hated her.)
Her brain is very like a twat
What goes in slides right back out
Explaining will be all for naught
Because her brain is like a twat.
I was thirteen and friend Judy had been shamed by Ms. Bealafeld for
being late. "Out" does not rhyme with twat in my dialect then or
now but I thought I was very clever (I have many bad rhymes about
teachers from those day). I mostly liked that nice finish of
the "T." It worked for me, anyway and it worked for Judy, in the
moment. <g>
If I were writing about a twat today I'd rhyme with snot or
distraught or dry rot or forgot. <g>
Deb Lewis
Sandra Dodd
-=-I wonder if there are regional variations
within this country (and others) due to colonisers from different
parts of jolly ol' Britain, and how class/levels of literacy might
have factored into the way the word was pronounced back then, whot,
whot! -=-
Maybe it's different even now in different parts of Britain.
Languages are alive. I remember as a kid when they told me glass was
a liquid, I believed it because we had a mirror at our house that had
been built into the front of a close in 1910, probably, and the top
wasn't very reflective at all, and the bottom was wavy like a
funhouse mirror.
International communications can cause more homogeneity in a language
(just as tv and movies did, as radio did, as the printing press did)
but it also gives us a way to see that the language can have a
funhouse effect and that it really is liquid.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
within this country (and others) due to colonisers from different
parts of jolly ol' Britain, and how class/levels of literacy might
have factored into the way the word was pronounced back then, whot,
whot! -=-
Maybe it's different even now in different parts of Britain.
Languages are alive. I remember as a kid when they told me glass was
a liquid, I believed it because we had a mirror at our house that had
been built into the front of a close in 1910, probably, and the top
wasn't very reflective at all, and the bottom was wavy like a
funhouse mirror.
International communications can cause more homogeneity in a language
(just as tv and movies did, as radio did, as the printing press did)
but it also gives us a way to see that the language can have a
funhouse effect and that it really is liquid.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-If I were writing about a twat today I'd rhyme with snot or
distraught or dry rot or forgot. <g>
Deb Lewis-=-
GOOD GOD, Deb, you did it.
I was laughing out loud with Marty trying to sleep in the next room
and now I'm holding my breath til I can finish this and go outside
and laugh.
Thanks.
And I didn't know the George Carlin bit. Thanks for all of that.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
distraught or dry rot or forgot. <g>
Deb Lewis-=-
GOOD GOD, Deb, you did it.
I was laughing out loud with Marty trying to sleep in the next room
and now I'm holding my breath til I can finish this and go outside
and laugh.
Thanks.
And I didn't know the George Carlin bit. Thanks for all of that.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
In a message dated 7/16/2007 11:13:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
khach@... writes:
i'm guessing it's English too.
my daughter and i use "yoni" mostly. i prefer the meaning of yoni to
the meaning of vagina {sheath}.
That sent me to Wikipedia, which made me wonder as it was loading, is there
a dictionary-online or otherwise-with *world* meanings in it? Not so much in
the homogenized way Sandra mentioned, but more in the
listing-different-meanings kind of way that dictionaries do? That would be an amazing
thing-something I'd love to have in book form (though it would probably be so large it
would have to be in encyclopedia-like "set" form) to finger through, find
connections and cool discoveries by accident. Does such a thing exist?
Peace,
Sang
************************************** Get a sneak peak of the all-new AOL at
http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
khach@... writes:
i'm guessing it's English too.
my daughter and i use "yoni" mostly. i prefer the meaning of yoni to
the meaning of vagina {sheath}.
That sent me to Wikipedia, which made me wonder as it was loading, is there
a dictionary-online or otherwise-with *world* meanings in it? Not so much in
the homogenized way Sandra mentioned, but more in the
listing-different-meanings kind of way that dictionaries do? That would be an amazing
thing-something I'd love to have in book form (though it would probably be so large it
would have to be in encyclopedia-like "set" form) to finger through, find
connections and cool discoveries by accident. Does such a thing exist?
Peace,
Sang
************************************** Get a sneak peak of the all-new AOL at
http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-is there
a dictionary-online or otherwise-with *world* meanings in it?-=-
I don't think so, but you can go to google, click "languages" and
choose a different nation's flag and google mostly sites from another
English speaking country.
If someone were to do such a book, I think it might end up being
outdated by the time it was mailed out.
This is the kind of thing people do masters' theses and dissertations
for PhDs on, though I'm guessing most advisors would ask them to
choose a different word.
The cool thing about a 'bad word' is that it's not already so
documented, so the research of place and pronunciation could be more
real.
There is a U.K. map that will do accents, but I don't think they'll
read any old word in the world. I think there are just pre-recorded
snippets of this and that, but it's possible that if one were to
write to one of the builders of that he or she would just have an
idea already.
And in the case of a dissertation, the thing to be following and
charting would be where the people's grandparents came from who said
it what way. Lots of that is hard to trace, even if it's all in the
English speaking world. Tracing someone back 200 years still doesn't
show the effect of learning dirty words from the neighbor kids, etc.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
a dictionary-online or otherwise-with *world* meanings in it?-=-
I don't think so, but you can go to google, click "languages" and
choose a different nation's flag and google mostly sites from another
English speaking country.
If someone were to do such a book, I think it might end up being
outdated by the time it was mailed out.
This is the kind of thing people do masters' theses and dissertations
for PhDs on, though I'm guessing most advisors would ask them to
choose a different word.
The cool thing about a 'bad word' is that it's not already so
documented, so the research of place and pronunciation could be more
real.
There is a U.K. map that will do accents, but I don't think they'll
read any old word in the world. I think there are just pre-recorded
snippets of this and that, but it's possible that if one were to
write to one of the builders of that he or she would just have an
idea already.
And in the case of a dissertation, the thing to be following and
charting would be where the people's grandparents came from who said
it what way. Lots of that is hard to trace, even if it's all in the
English speaking world. Tracing someone back 200 years still doesn't
show the effect of learning dirty words from the neighbor kids, etc.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Schuyler
David, Pakistani born, UK boarding school educated, says it both ways. He
says "twat (hat) is a pussy and twat (dry rot) is a fool".
Nebraska accented me rhymes it with dry rot, but certainly not what. What
rhymes with pizza hut.
Schuyler
www.waynforth.blogspot.com
says "twat (hat) is a pussy and twat (dry rot) is a fool".
Nebraska accented me rhymes it with dry rot, but certainly not what. What
rhymes with pizza hut.
Schuyler
www.waynforth.blogspot.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sandra Dodd" <Sandra@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, July 16, 2007 4:12 AM
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Rated "R" post
> -=-but it would have rhymed with
> hat. Nor with prat.-=-
>
> I edited and rearranged and thereby botched.
>
> I started off saying something else. The Nor was a vestigial "nor."
>
> Sorry for any confusion.
>
> -=In Australia twat rhymes with hot. -=-
>
> Good. Then if I go to Australia I will understand at least one word
> (though if someone's using that word while speaking to me, I
> should've understood much more and earlier).
>
> Sandra
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
diana jenner
On 7/16/07, a_westaway <khach@...> wrote:
I'm gonna practice the "hat" way, too, I do like Lily Allen :)
I use the word Yoni, too - in sense of the male equivalent "package"
--
~diana :)
xoxoxoxo
hannahbearski.blogspot.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>Twat rhymes with hot in South Dakota
> Sneaking out from lurkdom...
> I'm in Brisbane, and i've mostly heard twat as rhyming with hot.
> Friends who have travelled in England all prounounce it rhyming with
> hat though, so i guess it's been transformed by the dialects of the
> colonies. tomayto/ tomarto.
> one of my favourites {i'm a scorpio, i have many} is spadger...her
> masculine consort is the todger! i'm guessing it's English too.
> my daughter and i use "yoni" mostly. i prefer the meaning of yoni to
> the meaning of vagina {sheath}.
> .
>
I'm gonna practice the "hat" way, too, I do like Lily Allen :)
I use the word Yoni, too - in sense of the male equivalent "package"
--
~diana :)
xoxoxoxo
hannahbearski.blogspot.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Gold Standard
In New England it can rhyme with fart.
:o)
Jacki
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
:o)
Jacki
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
halfshadow1
BUT when i practice it with the hat sound i sound like some sick
bird!--- In [email protected], "diana jenner"
<hahamommy@...> wrote:
bird!--- In [email protected], "diana jenner"
<hahamommy@...> wrote:
>
> On 7/16/07, a_westaway <khach@...> wrote:
> >
> > Sneaking out from lurkdom...
> > I'm in Brisbane, and i've mostly heard twat as rhyming with hot.
> > Friends who have travelled in England all prounounce it rhyming with
> > hat though, so i guess it's been transformed by the dialects of the
> > colonies. tomayto/ tomarto.
> > one of my favourites {i'm a scorpio, i have many} is spadger...her
> > masculine consort is the todger! i'm guessing it's English too.
> > my daughter and i use "yoni" mostly. i prefer the meaning of yoni to
> > the meaning of vagina {sheath}.
> > .
> >
>
> Twat rhymes with hot in South Dakota
> I'm gonna practice the "hat" way, too, I do like Lily Allen :)
> I use the word Yoni, too - in sense of the male equivalent "package"
> --
> ~diana :)
> xoxoxoxo
> hannahbearski.blogspot.com
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
Nancy Wooton
On Jul 16, 2007, at 9:32 AM, Gold Standard wrote:
Nancy
> In New England it can rhyme with fart.ROFL!
>
> :o)
> Jacki
>
Nancy
riasplace3
--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
about these sorts of "old" words, and my mom mentioned that my dad and
his family would say "holp" instead of "help".
Ria
> And in the case of a dissertation, the thing to be following andAt my Mom's this evening we had a discussion around the supper table
> charting would be where the people's grandparents came from who said
> it what way. Lots of that is hard to trace, even if it's all in the
> English speaking world.
about these sorts of "old" words, and my mom mentioned that my dad and
his family would say "holp" instead of "help".
Ria
Bob Collier
--- In [email protected], "Schuyler" <s.waynforth@...>
wrote:
Bob
wrote:
>ways. He
> David, Pakistani born, UK boarding school educated, says it both
> says "twat (hat) is a pussy and twat (dry rot) is a fool".That's exactly as I remember it growing up in London.
>
>
Bob
Sandra Dodd
-=-> David, Pakistani born, UK boarding school educated, says it both
ways. He
In my American-southwest experience, it's twat-rhymes-with-rot and
unspeakable name for female anatomy.
I've heard that in the U.K. the most unspeakable (or un-
broadcastable) word of all is "the c-word," cunt.
Here, "cunt" is used as a horrible insult for a woman. (Or as a very
rude word for female anatomy, but not as rude as "twat.") A
generation before me, they used "douche bag" or just "bag" as an
insult for women. "Sorry sack" I heard applied to a woman's face by
someone who would be 80 or so if he were alive, and he grew up in
Arizona and Utah.
When we want to insult a male person, we don't use those female
references. We use "dick" or "prick." But that doesn't mean he's a
fool, it means he's thoughtlessly cruel or consciously mean. Somehow
he's harming other people.
I'm wondering what we call "fool."
Certainly not "fool." <g>
Jerk, dork, idiot ? Dumbass. Not very bright.
In Texas there is a tradition of funny sayings about people who
aren't perhaps as bright as others around him.
one card short of a deck
not all there
the best I think I ever heard was "his dip stick ain't touchin' his
oil" (with the last word pronounced "awl")
Oh! I've heard (and used) dipstick. Dipwad. (for "fool")
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
ways. He
> says "twat (hat) is a pussy and twat (dry rot) is a fool".-=-That's exactly as I remember it growing up in London.-=-
>
>
In my American-southwest experience, it's twat-rhymes-with-rot and
unspeakable name for female anatomy.
I've heard that in the U.K. the most unspeakable (or un-
broadcastable) word of all is "the c-word," cunt.
Here, "cunt" is used as a horrible insult for a woman. (Or as a very
rude word for female anatomy, but not as rude as "twat.") A
generation before me, they used "douche bag" or just "bag" as an
insult for women. "Sorry sack" I heard applied to a woman's face by
someone who would be 80 or so if he were alive, and he grew up in
Arizona and Utah.
When we want to insult a male person, we don't use those female
references. We use "dick" or "prick." But that doesn't mean he's a
fool, it means he's thoughtlessly cruel or consciously mean. Somehow
he's harming other people.
I'm wondering what we call "fool."
Certainly not "fool." <g>
Jerk, dork, idiot ? Dumbass. Not very bright.
In Texas there is a tradition of funny sayings about people who
aren't perhaps as bright as others around him.
one card short of a deck
not all there
the best I think I ever heard was "his dip stick ain't touchin' his
oil" (with the last word pronounced "awl")
Oh! I've heard (and used) dipstick. Dipwad. (for "fool")
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-My husbands family says "srp" instead of syrup. It drives me crazy
and he complains that I say it wrong! -=-
Don't be driven crazy by a pronunciation MILLIONS of people use.
Don't.
It's not good for you, and it's not good for your marriage or the
peace of your house.
Just accept that English is a lively language without an oversight
committee, and don't worry about things like that.
-=-I am from Seattle and he is from Montana and even being that close
there is a huge difference in the way we say lots of words.-=-
I'm guessing (just guessing) that his family lived in Montana or
points south for longer than your family was in Seattle.
It's not about "close," it's about migration and culture.
The SE corner of New Mexico is sometimes referred to as "Little
Texas." The older folks speak as they do in West Texas. Looking at
a map, it's not surprising. But those factors show up politically,
too, on how they'll be expected to vote, what they're more likely to
eat... It would be fun to talk to someone who does purchasing and
inventory for a regional grocery store. They probably send more
grits and less masa to Roswell than to Silver City. And they're both
in southern New Mexico.
This is me, writing years ago:
================================
One day when Kirby was a toddler, his dad said carefully and clearly,
"Kirby, close the cabinet." Kirby gazed back with no understanding.
Keith tried again sweetly: "Close the cabinet!" Nothing. I saw the
impasse, and said quickly, "Kirby, shut the door." He lit up with
recognition and SLAM, it was done.
That day, I decided to try to use more than one word when I
communicated with my kids. I knew that in England, after the Norman
conquest, simple legal matters had been be stated in English and
French both, and some of those phrases still exist, like "will and
testament," "aid and abet," "give and bequeath," and "null and void."
So for the sake of my children understanding both my child-of-Texans
self AND my child-of-Bostonians husband (Boston and Michigan and
Canada, but NOT Texas), I began to paraphrase. "Kirby, can you hand
me that blue cup? The plastic mug that's on the counter?" Or "Let's
go to the park, okay? We'll walk down to the swings and picnic tables."
===============================
The rest of that is here: http://sandradodd.com/words
My husband says "neither" with a long i sound on the first syllable.
I say it with a long e sound.
Our kids have used one or the other, and we've never discussed it.
My husband *always* calls Marty "Martin." I've always called him
"Marty." Everyone knows who we're talking to, even Marty!
Sandra
and he complains that I say it wrong! -=-
Don't be driven crazy by a pronunciation MILLIONS of people use.
Don't.
It's not good for you, and it's not good for your marriage or the
peace of your house.
Just accept that English is a lively language without an oversight
committee, and don't worry about things like that.
-=-I am from Seattle and he is from Montana and even being that close
there is a huge difference in the way we say lots of words.-=-
I'm guessing (just guessing) that his family lived in Montana or
points south for longer than your family was in Seattle.
It's not about "close," it's about migration and culture.
The SE corner of New Mexico is sometimes referred to as "Little
Texas." The older folks speak as they do in West Texas. Looking at
a map, it's not surprising. But those factors show up politically,
too, on how they'll be expected to vote, what they're more likely to
eat... It would be fun to talk to someone who does purchasing and
inventory for a regional grocery store. They probably send more
grits and less masa to Roswell than to Silver City. And they're both
in southern New Mexico.
This is me, writing years ago:
================================
One day when Kirby was a toddler, his dad said carefully and clearly,
"Kirby, close the cabinet." Kirby gazed back with no understanding.
Keith tried again sweetly: "Close the cabinet!" Nothing. I saw the
impasse, and said quickly, "Kirby, shut the door." He lit up with
recognition and SLAM, it was done.
That day, I decided to try to use more than one word when I
communicated with my kids. I knew that in England, after the Norman
conquest, simple legal matters had been be stated in English and
French both, and some of those phrases still exist, like "will and
testament," "aid and abet," "give and bequeath," and "null and void."
So for the sake of my children understanding both my child-of-Texans
self AND my child-of-Bostonians husband (Boston and Michigan and
Canada, but NOT Texas), I began to paraphrase. "Kirby, can you hand
me that blue cup? The plastic mug that's on the counter?" Or "Let's
go to the park, okay? We'll walk down to the swings and picnic tables."
===============================
The rest of that is here: http://sandradodd.com/words
My husband says "neither" with a long i sound on the first syllable.
I say it with a long e sound.
Our kids have used one or the other, and we've never discussed it.
My husband *always* calls Marty "Martin." I've always called him
"Marty." Everyone knows who we're talking to, even Marty!
Sandra
Schuyler
> -=-I am from Seattle and he is from Montana and even being that closeMy words and accent are an absolute function of being a migrant.
> there is a huge difference in the way we say lots of words.-=-
>
> I'm guessing (just guessing) that his family lived in Montana or
> points south for longer than your family was in Seattle.
> It's not about "close," it's about migration and culture
I'm a Nebraskan by upbringing. When I travelled to California by train when
I was 18 and met people and lived there for a few months I let go of the pop
I'd drunk for all of my 18 years to that point and took on their soda.
Living in the UK for the past almost 5 years I now say "conserve-a-tree" for
conservatory or sunroom as it was known in my house growing up. And Hospital
instead of the hospital or University instead of college or the university.
I don't say boot for trunk, but we have a van. I do say pants for underwear
and trousers for pants. I don't say tea for dinner and I don't call dessert
pudding. But I do call a yard a garden and that one was hard to change and
is hard to adapt when I travel back to the U.S.
It is funny to watch these aspects of my dialect disappear as I integrate
more and more into the UK. I don't think I will ever sound British. And
neither Simon nor Linnaea really have British accents. But, that said, I
sometimes can't hear a British versus an American accent on television.
Although Hugh Laurie does the most amazing American accent for a Brit that I
think I've ever heard. But I'm listening for him to waver. He was good in
Stuart Little, but I think he's better in House, I'll have to watch Stuart
Little again and see.
Oh, Sandra, as a complete sidenote, have you seen the Profanisaurus?
http://www.viz.co.uk/?%2Fprofanisaurus%2Fprofan_index.php%3Ffb%3D1 (if
that's too long: http://tinyurl.com/h6sb2). There is a searchable index
there, but the book is really fun to wander through.
Schuyler
www.waynforth.blogspot.com
Sandra Dodd
-=-But I do call a yard a garden and that one was hard to change and
is hard to adapt when I travel back to the U.S.-=-
I have a Brit friend who owns a house in Albuquerque. The house
itself is beautiful, but the back yard has a cinderblock wall, a
large concrete patio slab, and otherwise hard dirt, rocks, weeds.
He calls it "the garden," which is an insult to green-growing gardens
everywhere!! <g>
-=-Although Hugh Laurie does the most amazing American accent for a
Brit that I
think I've ever heard. But I'm listening for him to waver.-=-
The first episode he said tomato SAUCE. He got the "tomato" part
right, but he didn't say "toMAto sauce."
Other than that, I haven't heard a glitch.
Kenneth Brannagh in "Dead Again" did a great job but for one line
when he's out getting into the little sports car and said something
with a British intonation. Slight.
Lately more and more English actresses are doing American parts.
Harry Potter's aunt is in "Catch and Release." She does a good job.
Imelda Staunton (hey! Also now of Harry Potter...) did some American
thing I saw in passing recently.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
is hard to adapt when I travel back to the U.S.-=-
I have a Brit friend who owns a house in Albuquerque. The house
itself is beautiful, but the back yard has a cinderblock wall, a
large concrete patio slab, and otherwise hard dirt, rocks, weeds.
He calls it "the garden," which is an insult to green-growing gardens
everywhere!! <g>
-=-Although Hugh Laurie does the most amazing American accent for a
Brit that I
think I've ever heard. But I'm listening for him to waver.-=-
The first episode he said tomato SAUCE. He got the "tomato" part
right, but he didn't say "toMAto sauce."
Other than that, I haven't heard a glitch.
Kenneth Brannagh in "Dead Again" did a great job but for one line
when he's out getting into the little sports car and said something
with a British intonation. Slight.
Lately more and more English actresses are doing American parts.
Harry Potter's aunt is in "Catch and Release." She does a good job.
Imelda Staunton (hey! Also now of Harry Potter...) did some American
thing I saw in passing recently.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
>There's "tool". And "dumb as a bag of hammers" <g>.
> I'm wondering what we call "fool."
> Certainly not "fool."
> Jerk, dork, idiot ? Dumbass. Not very bright.
>
> In Texas there is a tradition of funny sayings about people who
> aren't perhaps as bright as others around him.
> one card short of a deck
> not all there
> the best I think I ever heard was "his dip stick ain't touchin' his
> oil" (with the last word pronounced "awl")
>
> Oh! I've heard (and used) dipstick. Dipwad. (for "fool")
>
> Sandra
Robin B.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Susan
> In Texas there is a tradition of funny sayings about people whoHere in Virginia, too - I've overheard:
> aren't perhaps as bright as others around him.
> one card short of a deck
> not all there
> the best I think I ever heard was "his dip stick ain't touchin' his
> oil" (with the last word pronounced "awl")
elevator doesn't go all the way to the top
missin' a few apples from the barrel
two bricks shy of a full load
not running on a full tank
riding the short bus
But I think I prefer your last one. That's original.
~ Susan
Sandra Dodd
-=-Here in Virginia, too - I've overheard:
elevator doesn't go all the way to the top
missin' a few apples from the barrel-=-
In northern New Mexico I never hear things like that.
I'm surprised when I go elsewhere at the number of casual insults.
Maybe it was easier, in part, for us to be respectful of our kids
because we live in a place where casual insults are not an art form. <g>
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
elevator doesn't go all the way to the top
missin' a few apples from the barrel-=-
In northern New Mexico I never hear things like that.
I'm surprised when I go elsewhere at the number of casual insults.
Maybe it was easier, in part, for us to be respectful of our kids
because we live in a place where casual insults are not an art form. <g>
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandrewmama
Around here "box of rocks" refers to someone who is behaving as if
they haven't got a clue. The implication that their head is full of
rocks rather than brains.
Chris in IA
they haven't got a clue. The implication that their head is full of
rocks rather than brains.
Chris in IA
On Jul 17, 2007, at 11:53 AM, robin.bentley@... wrote:
> There's "tool". And "dumb as a bag of hammers" <g>.
>
> Robin B.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Susan
> Around here "box of rocks" refers to someone who is behaving as ifI've heard that and also "dumb as a bucket" but I've never completely
> they haven't got a clue. The implication that their head is full of
> rocks rather than brains.
understood that one...
~ Susan