Sayings! Where do they come from?

[Shell Beau]

You know weird sayings like:

"I beg to differ" Do you really "beg" to differ?
"The shit hit the fan" I'd hate to be there for that one.
"Three sheets to the wind" Some drunk term, I really have no clue.
"Hot under the collar" I guess you could get that mad.
"Believe you me" I've never gotten that one.

I know there are a lot more!

And why do the really good curse words all involve a female?
Sonofabitch, Motherf***er, bitch, etc.

[Richardo]

1. "Three sheets to the wind"

Actual term started out as "three sheets in the wind".

A sheet is not the sail as you would expect, but the line (rope) that secures the sail. If your sheets are in the wind (unfastened from the ship and flying around), your sails uncontrollable and your ship will lurch all over the place, like a drunk guy (or gal).

At least that's the story I heard.

[Shell Beau]

2. Well that does make sense!

[Misunderestimator]

3. Um... really "good" curse words?

Being that you are a female, I would have thought you'd know why. Clearly those terms you listed which involve a female are used to insult women ultimately. They are the "really good curse words" because sexists have made them so.

[Shell Beau]

5. Well usually men are called a sonofabitch and motherf***er.

What I meant by good, was the ones that are used often. I actually prefer to use the word shit or damn.

[Misunderestimator]

8. Yes, men are called that, but the woman is degraded in the terms...

Or don't you see that?

[Shell Beau]

10. I do see that, but I don't think that when they

are used today, people really use them in the context that they were originally created. With the exception of bitch.

[Misunderestimator]

15. The impact of language is there where it's intended to offend or not.

I've used those terms myself... without thinking. And then I think about how I'm perpetuating the problem by using them, so I try not to. Especially the word bitch. But the others are even worse... Mother fucker? (goes without saying); Son of a bitch? (As if a man is worse only because he is the son of a bitch, therefore it's the woman's fault).

No, all that thought is not behind those terms every time they are used. But it doesn't change that there IS a thought behind them and a history.

[Shell Beau]

17. You make a good point. I tend not to use those words

very often. I have used the word bitch on occassion though. I guess I have never really thought about how or why those words originated.

[HEyHEY]

22. Prick, Asshole, cock, these words degrade no one but the man

[Misunderestimator]

24. Those words don't have the same power that the others have...

They are more similar to c*nt. Calling someone by a part of their body is just a bit different than calling someone a mother fucker or a son of a bitch. They are similar to c*nt, but not the same, since c*nt has, through its use over time, taken on a more insulting nature than prick, cock or asshole.

Subjective and impossible to prove. This argument that the terms are "just as bad" as these innocuous ones is always brought up by men who think that slurs against women are perfectly acceptable. I will never figure that out.

[HEyHEY]

26. Unless you're a man though you can't accurately

Describe the effect they have on men and how men feel about them. Cause personally I take great exception to being called a "Cock"

[Misunderestimator]

27. I've never heard anyone call a man a cock... cock sucker yes...

which is an ENTIRELY different thing.... I guess I just don't see the impact in calling a man a cock. It's understandable that you would take exception to it. Everyone takes exception to being insulted. And I would never call a man a cock myself.

There are reasons why the other terms denigrate women, I made that clear already. "Mother Fucker" ... "Son of a Bitch." I've never heard "Father Fucker" or "Daughter of a Cock"... never once.

[HEyHEY]

28. Didn't "Mother fucker" derive as a racist term?

Or something, I think I've heard that before. But I'm not sure.

[Misunderestimator]

29. I have no idea.

:shrug:

[trackfan]

4. The vulgarity, yet quaint, formal, and archaic word order of

"I shit you not"
always amused me.

[Shell Beau]

6. I use that one often. Good one!

[expatriot]

7. Believe you me, I know the origin to all these gems.

Of course I don't.

Many our "dead metaphors." Where the connection has been lost but the expression has survived.

But like "Believe you me." It is my opinion that everyone has this real understanding that language is this wonderfully complex and beautiful thing and we have a real cultural appreciation for wordplay and messing language up. Believe you me is something that would fly out of somebody's mouth when they were drunk or overly-excited, a Bushism so to speak. It is obviously a garbling of the following sentence (remember when your Englsih teacher would put You in parantheses as the subject of command sentences?).


"(You) Believe me."

[Shell Beau]

11. That does make sense. Good observation!

[TlalocW]

9. I always liked learning about phrases

Of course, sometimes it's hard to know if a story is true or not.

My favorite one is where the term toast came from when drinking to someone. Supposedly in Roman times it was common to put a piece of toast in bowls of wine to reduce the acidity. One day, two Romans were walking by some public baths and saw a beautiful lady in the water. They went over, and one had a cup and scooped some water out of the bath and drank to her beauty. The other was reported to have said, "Though I care not for the drink, I would have the toast."

Also the clinking of glasses came from when two people of power drank together. To prove that the wine in one person's goblet wasn't poisoned, the other person would allow them to pour some into his. This would make the glasses clink. If the other person wanted to show they trusted the first, he would just tap his goblet against the other's without pouring.

Another interesting one is, "You're dressed to the nines." It comes from a corruption of old English, "Thou art dressed to thine eyes," both meaning that a person is all dolled up.

TlalocW

[Shell Beau]

13. Aaah! That is interesting!

[Taverner]

12. "Shit hit the fan"

Well the story around that one was that, well someone was scooping up after their dog when the slipped on some, causing the contents of the pooper scooper to become airborne.

Soon, they descended near an outdoor fan, the big 4x4 kind, and well...

Life was not good on the recieving end of that fan...

[Shell Beau]

14. Has that by any chance happened to you?

:crazy:

[Taverner]

16. No but I did stop a fan with my tongue

Stupid drunk tricks.

[Shell Beau]

18. Yeah, I guess so. Ouch!

:o

[Taverner]

19. Yepth

I talkethedth litketh thith for a weekth

[ronnykmarshall]

20. Nervous as a whore in church?

Why would a brothel matron be nervous?

I've been in church and lord knows what a whore I've been in my life.

[Shell Beau]

21. Ha ha! I've heard it as "sweating like a whore in church"!

[skygazer]

23. How about "drunk as a skunk"?

I always kind of liked that one - evidently those little buggers can put it away.

[Shell Beau]

25. Yeah, who knew?