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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 10, 2019 17:38:14 GMT
Is "to chill" in the sense of relax from longer ago than ten years?
Others that arose during the last decade would be "sick" in the sense of really great or "sketchy" meaning possibly dangerous. That one I think evolved from general ignorance, rather than as a pure slang word.
Never heard phatt, Questa.
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Post by patricklondon on Oct 10, 2019 20:52:24 GMT
Is "to chill" in the sense of relax from longer ago than ten years? Others that arose during the last decade would be "sick" in the sense of really great or "sketchy" meaning possibly dangerous. That one I think evolved from general ignorance, rather than as a pure slang word. Never heard phatt, Questa. I've seen 'phat', so it's in use in least a subculture in the UK, and 'sick' as a term of approbation is quite widespread, I think but maybe they're among those that come and go. 'Sketchy' used as we would use 'dodgy' seems to me a USA thing. Quite confusing, since we use it to mean just 'incomplete', from 'sketch' as an outline. How that gets to mean 'dangerous' or 'threatening', heaven only knows.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 10, 2019 21:04:56 GMT
Well, I stick to my theory that it's pure ignorance. One person says it that way, then others follow suit without bothering to check. The correct meaning is as you say, incomplete, as in just an outline.
I've also more than once heard "seedy" used when it was obvious the speaker meant "seamy" and I have a feeling sketchy-as-dangerous came into being by the same sort of route.
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Post by bjd on Oct 11, 2019 5:36:04 GMT
I would use sketchy in the "sort of dangerous-feeling" rather than as incomplete. And seedy to me just means not in good condition for a place. A seedy neighbourhood might feel sketchy.
But my slang is so out of date that I get confused doing the NY Times crossword puzzle, so what do I know.
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Post by patricklondon on Oct 11, 2019 12:35:13 GMT
I would use sketchy in the "sort of dangerous-feeling" rather than as incomplete. And seedy to me just means not in good condition for a place. A seedy neighbourhood might feel sketchy. Interesting. To me "seedy" carries a distinct moralistic judgement: not as bad as "sleazy" but definitely more so than "scruffy", which is what I would use for your meaning of "seedy". But "sketchy" is more likely to be used here in a statement like "The details/plans are sketchy at the moment".
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 11, 2019 17:13:43 GMT
Well, yes -- you are correct, which is what I was trying to point out: correct usage vs. sloppy usage/slang which worms its way into correct usage.
Just to clarify that seedy-as-seamy is not my meaning!!!
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Oct 14, 2019 19:35:25 GMT
I dunno if it's slang or colloquialisms but here in Leicester we greet each other with 'hiya' which...with the east Midlands accent comes out pretty much as 'eye-err' >>shudder<<
We have little saying like 'ay-up-me-duck' which basically means 'hello sweetie'. People of any age can be called sweetheart (pronounced 'sweet-art') love, petal, meduck, chick, buggerlugs (don't ask)
An old term here for somebody miserable is 'mardy' or 'mardy-arse'. Ice creams are called 'okies' (pronounced oakies)...crisp bread rolls are called cobs...
I don't really mix much with youngsters these days altho I do hear their banter when I'm travelling by bus...there still seems a tendency for young boys to affect some kind of gangster-indian-american-rapper mix. I hear 'nah-man' all the time and it doesn't seem to mean 'I beg to disagree' it just peppers their conversation... 'innit' is another one...
Then ther are the lovely 'eh' and 'ohh'(o pronounced as in hot not as in poke) ...I get called 'Lizz-eh' Emma would be 'Emm-ohh' Jamie 'Jame- eh'...we all come from 'Leicest-ohh' you get my drift?
I guess this is all just accents.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 14, 2019 19:39:19 GMT
After Brexit, I am quite sure that everyone will return to the King's English.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Oct 14, 2019 19:41:47 GMT
Forsooth. Well as were going to be going back to the dark ages it makes sense I suppose...
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Post by questa on Oct 15, 2019 3:47:19 GMT
In a country where the dominant religion is Sport, it is no wonder that the jargon of various activities has crossed to mainstream use. Boxing and wrestling gave us 'saved by the bell' and 'down for the count', horse racing has many...'long in the tooth' 'inside running' 'photo finish' 'feeling his oats'.
Football and cricket have enriched languages even where they are not major sports. You can be on a 'sticky wicket'or let a comment 'Go through to the keeper' or 'play it with a straight bat'
There are many more...what metaphors from sport do you use?
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 15, 2019 3:49:47 GMT
Americans often strike out in their endeavours. (baseball)
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Post by mickthecactus on Oct 15, 2019 11:51:47 GMT
On the front foot- cricket
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Post by bjd on Oct 15, 2019 14:23:13 GMT
I didn't know any of the cricket metaphors. And I might use any slang based on sports without knowing where it comes from. For example, I didn't realize that "saved by the bell" came from boxing.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 15, 2019 15:15:03 GMT
Also from baseball: "You're off base!"
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Post by patricklondon on Oct 16, 2019 11:21:45 GMT
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Post by questa on Oct 16, 2019 12:43:45 GMT
Ball park figures Get to 'first base' Take the wind out of one's sails Follow in someone's wake
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Post by bjd on Oct 16, 2019 14:32:52 GMT
Patrick, what on earth does "break his duck" mean? And which sport is it from? As well as "up to scratch" -- is that from cricket?
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 16, 2019 15:36:16 GMT
Fumobici recently used "break my duck" in a post telling that he'd spoken Italian exclusively for over a week, but that he'd be seeing English speakers, so would be breaking his duck. From that I think I know what it means. It definitely was the first time I'd ever heard the expression.
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Post by patricklondon on Oct 16, 2019 18:21:12 GMT
Patrick, what on earth does "break his duck" mean? And which sport is it from? As well as "up to scratch" -- is that from cricket? That's why I put in links to explanations.
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Post by mossie on Oct 16, 2019 18:23:37 GMT
"Break my duck" comes from cricket, if one is out without scoring one's score is "a duck". Maybe comes from round as a duck's egg, but where does that leave us with "a round robin"
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 16, 2019 18:32:14 GMT
Sorry Patrick, even though I wasn't worried about the mysterious meanings, I will confess that I didn't notice that your listed idioms are actually links to the meanings. Proboards should make the difference in display more obvious.
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Post by questa on Oct 16, 2019 23:15:50 GMT
Cricket grounds have scoreboards with the players names and scores shown. If a player gets out without scoring, as Mossie said, he gets a O against his name. This denotes a 'duck', probably from the egg shape. If the player gets a duck in both innings the scoreboard shows O O which is called 'a pair of spectacles' or just 'a pair'
In recent times the term "a golden duck" means the player got out facing the first ball bowled to him. (Oh...the shame!)
Tennis also uses the egg as a symbol of 'no score', only in French...L'oeuf = love = no score.
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 17, 2019 5:02:11 GMT
Never fall for a tennis player.
Love means nothing to them.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 17, 2019 5:22:55 GMT
Love in tennis comes from l'oeuf (egg) in French -- zero.
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Post by patricklondon on Oct 19, 2019 10:07:33 GMT
There's a few more come to mind. We had "on the front foot" (from cricket), which as I understand it means to bat fairly aggressively and implies that someone's got the initiative, so "on the back foot" means someone's forced into a defensive position, or not entirely in control of things. 'Selling someone a dummy'- misdirecting an opponent as to your intentions so that they move in one direction, leaving you space to move where you always intended "Fall at the first hurdle" - from steeplechase, self-explanatory as a metaphor "At a canter" - also horsey, metaphorically doing something without needing too much effort. My blog | My photos | My video clips | My Librivox recordings"too literate to be spam"
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Post by lagatta on Oct 19, 2019 10:23:53 GMT
South Asian speakers also use a lot of cricket metaphors.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 19, 2019 11:40:06 GMT
Baseball has also given us "to throw a curveball."
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 19, 2019 17:13:52 GMT
If you really want to cringe, listen to a contemporary using outdated slang from your youth. I know someone in my age group who still says "grok". *orp*
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Post by fumobici on Oct 19, 2019 20:48:10 GMT
If you really want to cringe, listen to a contemporary using outdated slang from your youth. I know someone in my age group who still says "grok". *orp*
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 19, 2019 20:54:19 GMT
I have never heard that word (?).
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