suck_files

Are These Words Bad? (aka the "suck" files...)

11.19.01

From time to time I will throw in the occassional, "Oh, THAT sucks!" In response people may say or infer with bristly body language, "How can you say THAT?" Translation: "There's a disgusting sexual reference to that phrase!"

For the record, that has NEVER been my intention. I accessed the SLANG dictionary at
www.webster.com and found this:

"suck: verb 1. to be contemptable, bad, despicable, disgustig, dreadful etc; to be utterly dreadful: as in 'Homework sucks!' See sux. 2. to engage in certain sexual activity (morgan's paraphrase). 3. an exclamation of derision, used to point out that someone has got what they deserved."

I also found this at www.wordwizard.com:

"Suck, by which I presume we are talking of Beavis & Butthead's favourite monosyllable, seems to have come on stream in the late 1960s/early 1970s. The OED suggests that it is linked to the Canadian slang 'suck': a worthless or contemptible person, but in my own opinion it seems more likely that 'suck' abbreviates a coarser phrase, e.g. 'suck fecis' (morgan's paraphrase). It may also have vague connections with the much early UK schoolyard taunt, 'Sucks to you!' or indeed to the mid-19th century 'suck': a deception; a disappointing event or result."

I also found several references that it comes from usages such as, "Go suck an egg!" or "Oh go suck a lemon!" "Sucks wind" or "Sucks air." none of which is sexual in nature.

After researching several etymology (word origins) sites, it seems there is NO ONE CERTAIN origin of the word.

Bottom line of my investigation:

Even with unclear origins, it seems "sucks" clearly is a homonym (word spelled the same with
different meanings).

I understand that "sucks" clearly can have sexual meaning when used in THAT context. However, the info I've found seems that the context in which we most often hear it, (e.g. "That sucks.") is NOT in a sexual context.

That said, in my humble opinion (pardon me, but the next part could be a little course) if we label "sucks" as BAD, then why not consider "ball" "hard" and a host of other truly likewise harmless words that bring on snickers from the most sophomoric among us (mysel included depending on the day), bad as well.

Personally, I think that would suck...

other misc. "bad" words:

Is "Juas Priest" blasphemy??

NOPE! Here's what I found:

"Similar to 'my lands' (believed to be an inoffensive substitute for "my Lord"), many interjections are
euphemistic. The list includes such terms as judas priest, law sakes, cripes, gee, gosh, dang it and golly. We'll leave it to you to figure out the less-than-polite terms behind the euphemisms." www.webster.com

And:

"The truly great cusswords span the generations, don't they? ... 'Judas Priest' is a blasphemous-sounding but meaningless euphemism for "Jesus Christ." ( it would be on par with saying 'gosh darn') --CECIL ADAMS www.straightdope.com

"euphemism" = substituted word or phrase that is considerably less offensive ie. "gosh darn" for the phrase we all know it's substituted for, yet "gosh darn" is considered socially acceptable.

bottom line: We need to lighten up and not automatically think that everything leads to hades...

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		Are These Words Bad? (aka the "suck" files...) 11.19.01 From time to time I will throw in the occassional, "Oh, THAT sucks!" In response people may say or infer with bristly body language, "How can you say THAT?" Translation: "There's a disgusting sexual reference to that phrase!" For the record, that has NEVER been my intention. I accessed the SLANG dictionary at www.webster.com and found this: "suck: verb 1. to be contemptable, bad, despicable, disgustig, dreadful etc; to be utterly dreadful: as in 'Homework sucks!' See sux. 2. to engage in certain sexual activity (morgan's paraphrase). 3. an exclamation of derision, used to point out that someone has got what they deserved." I also found this at www.wordwizard.com: "Suck, by which I presume we are talking of Beavis & Butthead's favourite monosyllable, seems to have come on stream in the late 1960s/early 1970s. The OED suggests that it is linked to the Canadian slang 'suck': a worthless or contemptible person, but in my own opinion it seems more likely that 'suck' abbreviates a coarser phrase, e.g. 'suck fecis' (morgan's paraphrase). It may also have vague connections with the much early UK schoolyard taunt, 'Sucks to you!' or indeed to the mid-19th century 'suck': a deception; a disappointing event or result." I also found several references that it comes from usages such as, "Go suck an egg!" or "Oh go suck a lemon!" "Sucks wind" or "Sucks air." none of which is sexual in nature. After researching several etymology (word origins) sites, it seems there is NO ONE CERTAIN origin of the word. Bottom line of my investigation: Even with unclear origins, it seems "sucks" clearly is a homonym (word spelled the same with different meanings). I understand that "sucks" clearly can have sexual meaning when used in THAT context. However, the info I've found seems that the context in which we most often hear it, (e.g. "That sucks.") is NOT in a sexual context. That said, in my humble opinion (pardon me, but the next part could be a little course) if we label "sucks" as BAD, then why not consider "ball" "hard" and a host of other truly likewise harmless words that bring on snickers from the most sophomoric among us (mysel included depending on the day), bad as well. Personally, I think that would suck... other misc. "bad" words: Is "Juas Priest" blasphemy?? NOPE! Here's what I found: "Similar to 'my lands' (believed to be an inoffensive substitute for "my Lord"), many interjections are euphemistic. The list includes such terms as judas priest, law sakes, cripes, gee, gosh, dang it and golly. We'll leave it to you to figure out the less-than-polite terms behind the euphemisms." www.webster.com And: "The truly great cusswords span the generations, don't they? ... 'Judas Priest' is a blasphemous-sounding but meaningless euphemism for "Jesus Christ." ( it would be on par with saying 'gosh darn') --CECIL ADAMS www.straightdope.com "euphemism" = substituted word or phrase that is considerably less offensive ie. "gosh darn" for the phrase we all know it's substituted for, yet "gosh darn" is considered socially acceptable. bottom line: We need to lighten up and not automatically think that everything leads to hades... <Back