DISC When are usages too regional or obsolete to use?
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All this was brought on by an email I just received from a lady (here nameless) who wrote (I cannot imagine why): 'Allen, you're a brick.' I think I got the drift, but being a real brick, I decided to check out this wizard flapper's groove-like palaver. I went to http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=brick. Here's the brick's plunge in descending order: 1) a kilo of illegal drugs, 2) some cocaine, 3) a poor basketball shot, 4) verb: to ruin a piece of electronic equipment, 5) heroin, 6) marihuana, 7) a building block OR to defecate during intercourse, 8) very cold, 9) a giant piece of human excrement, 10) a massive cell phone, 11) a drug kilo again, 12) very cold again, 13) a bad water polo shot, 14) very cold again, 15) a dependable person, 16) a woman flat on all sides and a sexual partner for a national group, 17) a pound of drugs. I can exclude item 16, because the broad knows I do groom, but as to the rest, poetic license could possibly allow some unless I make certain charitable assumptions. (I do choose to make them, and opt for item 15. She needn't worry.) However, I was struck by how odd it would seem if I replied to her in a rhyming slang, for example, for which she could find no leprecaun. Moving on: Words and phrases that mean X in area (or time) A but Z in area (or time) B? I don't expect lot of replies: birds and stud muffins are mad shy, but let's hear a few (some) of 'em! Allen |
Allen, in the context of this board, since you asked, I can understand why someone would call you a brick...and mean it as a compliment...a solid contributor, consistently good poet and I would agree...on the other hand, where I come from if she/he said you were dumb as a brick or a brick shy of a wall, that would be different. I've lived all over the US, right, middle and left, and have never heard many of the definitions you sited. If I say someone's a real brick, I mean it as a compliment...solid, dependable, someone we can count on.
It'll be fun to see others' take on it. Pat |
In olden times a "whaletail" was a whale's tail, or a fluke
Now "muffin-tops" wear thongs; when they bend down it makes you puke Of course there is also "built like a brick s**thouse" Philip |
Allen,
It's the language of Joan Hunter Dunn and it means you're an absolutely tophole sort ;-) Definitely a compliment. Philip, "built like a brick dunny" is the Australian version. "Witty" sports commentators refer to some rugby players as a "brick with legs". |
It is of course impossible nowadays to read aloud to children poems which include the old use of the word 'gay' without causing mirth or misunderstanding. Pity, it was a handy little adjective for certain nouns and easy to rhyme. Perhaps it was a little over-used in Victorian poems, but I resent words like this one, and 'genius' and 'fantastic' being hijacked.
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My finest contribution to the art of the inadvertant faux pas (also known as dropping a bollock over here) was a few years ago over on Sonnet Central when I proudly posted a rather heartfelt poem about how the choice of a favourite Hopper painting gave deep insights into the psychology and character of a friend. The title 'Choosing a Hopper' was greeted with sniggers from American members...well how was I to know that a 'hopper' was slang for urinal.
Alan |
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My message, with the header "Mucho thanks", ran word for word, thus. Quote:
If anything can be misunderstood, it will be, and in the worst possible way. The urban dictionary seems to be a groovy place to hang out, but I meant "you are a brick", in the sense supplied by the Oxford Dictionary of English, under noun 2. namely: brick (...) 2.Brit. informal, dated. a generous, helpful, and reliable person; 'You really are a brick, Vi,' Gloria said. I meant it in a jocular, yoke-yoke P.G. Wodehouse vein, assuming that you would remember what you had done a short time prior and which gave me cause to thank you. Even my American Heritage Dictionary defines it thus in Americanese: brick (...) 3. Informal A helpful, reliable person. Who would have thunk this simple message would put bees in anyone's bonnet. Now had I written, "No thanks, Allen, you are a brickhead," you would have had cause for worry. YOKE, YOKE, YOKE :D:):D:) |
Allen, I must say I love definition #7, especially the fact that it only gets one entry, whereas "very cold" gets three.
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I read such things as this with utter despair. Bad language and vituperation are frowned upon in a downward direction if they come from below and with a slighter plaisant lowering of the brows if they come from one of those who has a golden something-that-shall-not-be-mentioned. So my counsel is held. There's nothing to quote here, as it's either been wiped out of archive, lest one who was short of content for a toilet wall should consider it - horrors - to have been previously published, or perhaps exorcised for the relief of the milder majority or banned along with its authors.
Just in case my silence is frustrating as well as a relief, I have at least offered a description of its content. |
The funny thing about Allen's initial example, from Kipling, this: The word Kipling spells "butch" is clearly not supposed to be pronounced with a vowel sound like the one in "book," but with the same vowel as the word "much." It is the word "much," its first consonant changed to a stop instead of a nasal. It's the phrase "this is too much for me," with its nasalizations lost.
As long as the reading parent understands that idea, the story can safely be read to the kids. :) On the larger topic: yes, word meanings are fluid, and it's nothing short of a miracle that the far-flung people on this site can write to each other. It's uncomfortable to discover our words can be misunderstood, but at least when we learn it here, we're not risking a punch in the face. |
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