Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: greg stephens Date: 11 Nov 10 - 10:34 AM Some give a derivation from the expression Gardy Loo (= French gardez l'eau) used as a shouted warning when hurling the contents of a full chamber pot out of the window in the morning. Others suggest an origin in "le o o", a reference to French outdoor privies having the symbol of two small holes cut in the door. (o o). There may be other ideas. |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Ed T Date: 11 Nov 10 - 10:39 AM Any Mudcaters ever eaten at the Y? If so, respond to this message, "likidy split". |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Mrrzy Date: 11 Nov 10 - 10:40 AM Ooh, thanks for the info on French horn and Cor anglais, I learned that in school donkeys' years ago. Donkeys' years = a long time Coon's age also, but now disliked in US as coon is also slang for black person And yes, what IS loo from? Right, dining at the Y, I'd forgotten about that. reminds me of What's the right way to eat pussy? Lickety split! Praying to the porcelain god = throwing up The technicolor yawn = throwing up or the barf itself Whore's bath = wiping only your face, underarms and crotch, generally with a wet cloth and no soap In French French un maquereau is a pimp, or it was when I was younger Arkansas toothpick = a knife |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: frogprince Date: 11 Nov 10 - 10:41 AM So which actually makes the least logical sense: Rest Room? Comfort Station? Loo? John? Water closet? I'm reminded of a long ago cartoon of a crusty older woman: "Rest room,hell; where's the can?" |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Bill D Date: 11 Nov 10 - 10:44 AM Hmmm...so it just sort of 'appeared' in the slang and is now common. I can at least imagine the way 'restroom' (now a single word) was started....though I'm not sure WHY the almost-as-common 'bathroom' got added. I suppose because it was usually the same room. Now, people's ears just seem to expect those 'genteel' words instead of 'toilet'. I also hear 'facilities' or 'john'...and a few others, depending on what part of the country. |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Ed T Date: 11 Nov 10 - 10:47 AM Liquid Panty Remover (lemon Gin) |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: GUEST,Patsy Date: 11 Nov 10 - 10:48 AM Even funnier in the UK is what we do when we get to the loo (slang versions inc). Slash (male) usually said amongst men Splash my boots (uncareful male) the same or close family Spend a penny (ladies) when out in company Have a tinkle (ladies or children) Make room for the beer (either) or Why didn't you say you wanted to go before we left (to children) Nature calls (mixed company) The US powdering the nose really does sound better than that unless of course there are any euphemisms for the function of relieving the bladder? I won't ask about the other! |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: C-flat Date: 11 Nov 10 - 11:03 AM Lifted from the "Dictionary of Euphemisms" by R W Holder after-shave = perfume for men; haute cuisine = small portions of expensive food; family = not pornographic. He's not without a witty turn of phrase: bestseller = a book of which the first impression is not remaindered consultant = a senior employee who has been dismissed and he's also good at uncovering military euphemism: deliver = to drop an explosive on an enemy air support = a military attack Looks worth a read... |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Dave MacKenzie Date: 11 Nov 10 - 11:20 AM Make a donation to Watneys. (Don't take the piss out of Red Barrell because there'll be noting left) |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: MGM·Lion Date: 11 Nov 10 - 11:22 AM BillD ~ Purely FYI: 'Toilet' was one of the words denounced by Nancy Mitford as non-U {she preferred 'lavatory' & is also said to have popularised, if not coined, 'loo', tho she would I believe countenance such old usages as 'privy' or 'water closet'}; along with 'serviette' {for which the U is 'table napkin'}. God knows why, & as if anybody gave a flying -ah - copulation! ~M~ |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Dave MacKenzie Date: 11 Nov 10 - 11:22 AM Had a feeling "fish supper" might be something for the cunning linguist. |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Jack the Sailor Date: 11 Nov 10 - 11:30 AM I guess that you all are realizing how derogatory these are toward other peoples. Newfoundlanders were the brunt of many jokes and I would imagine such expressions on Mainland Canada for many years. After that it was Pakistanis. I haven't been there much since 9/11 but I guess that has changed. In the US it used to be the Irish, then the poles. |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: frogprince Date: 11 Nov 10 - 11:40 AM Skip, skip, skip to the loo... Again pertaining to what you do when you get to the "loo": How wide spread is, or was, the parental thing of teaching kids to distinguish between "number one" and "number two"? |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Ed T Date: 11 Nov 10 - 11:44 AM Draining the dragon, (taking a leak) |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Bill D Date: 11 Nov 10 - 11:58 AM Here, 'privy' has become a substitute for 'outhouse'....meaning not indoor plumbing. I have heard 'lavatory', but not sure by whom...and it never was a common usage where I have lived. As to what we DO in one....the list would be too long to pist (I think I'll leave that mistyping ☺) here. |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Mrrzy Date: 11 Nov 10 - 12:06 PM Hee hee, I am reminded of a time when we were playing a Star Trek game, and the person playing the first officer had to go to the bathroom, and the guy playing the Captain said Number One, take care of Number Two! And we all died laughing. Maybe you had to be there. In the States there is a raging trade in blame-the-other-state; in Arkansas, a knife is a Texas toothpick, and so on. Other euphemisms for peeing include: See a man about a horse (this one I really don't get, must date from the wild west times or something) Drain the main vein Recycle my beer (After all, you don't buy beer, you only rent it!) |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: catspaw49 Date: 11 Nov 10 - 12:07 PM The French really take a beating don't they? So just to add to the pile...........A "French jack" is a hydraulic jack that leaks pressure and so "goes down on you." And to add to the six pack list........... Louisiana---Crawdad Georgia---Moon Pie And one that you will only hear at Ohio State: Michigan---A Turd Spaw |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: frogprince Date: 11 Nov 10 - 12:18 PM I'm just a bit suprised to hear someone cite "lavatory" as uncommon. We always went to the "lavatory" in primary and secondary school (in Minnesota),apart from expressions used just among the students. Now that you mention it, though, I don't remember a reference to a "lavatory" outside a school building. Drift alert; the old Kingston Mines, a bar and music scene in Chicago, had two terlits. There were always distinct signs, or objects, attached to the two doors; any crazy thing; maybe stuffed animals, maybe just geometric cutouts. The only consistent thing was, there was no way to figure out what designated male and what female. The inside joke was, the rooms were just used unisex, first come first served, and the uninitiated were left to figure out whutnhell they were supposed to do. |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: MGM·Lion Date: 11 Nov 10 - 12:18 PM ... to see a man about a dog, or to see a man about a horse is an English language colloquialism, usually used as to apologize for one's imminent departure or absence – generally to euphemistically conceal one's true purpose, such as to go to the bathroom or going to buy a drink. The original non-facetious meaning was probably to place or settle a bet on a race, thus dogs or horses.···· Wikipedia... |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Bill D Date: 11 Nov 10 - 01:14 PM "...you don't buy beer, you only rent it! Reminding me of the time I walked into a men's room at a bar and saw a guy standing at a urinal, head tilted back, pouring beer in at the top while pouring the last one down the drain... (I was in the Kingston Mines cafe once, about 1972?...I don't remember noticing) And I 'think' in lower grade school in Kansas, we raised our hand and asked for "the restroom paddle" a piece of wood we had to carry to prove we had permission to be out of class. I never even thought about it BEING a euphemism back then. |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: GRex Date: 11 Nov 10 - 01:36 PM Micca You have given us three of the euphemisms from your shantyman song. Can you also give us the meaning of 'Portuguese hand pump', or does it mean what I think it means. GRex |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: GUEST,Grishka Date: 11 Nov 10 - 01:44 PM It is the sad fate of euphemisms that as soon as they become common usage, they need a euphemism in turn. See toilet. Funny euphemisms, however, often evolve to funny expressions, as in "Ey, f***, mate, I gotta sh**, where's the Wooloomooloo?", which I heard in NSW. (Wooloomooloo is a part of Sydney, the word is used as an extension of "loo", cf. Monty Python.) |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Mrrzy Date: 11 Nov 10 - 02:55 PM The best signs I ever heard of were in a bar in Texas, I think: Pointers and Setters. he he he. |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: kendall Date: 11 Nov 10 - 04:51 PM Misery sticks...oars |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Micca Date: 11 Nov 10 - 05:29 PM Grex, you are probably guessing right, if you have seen me sing it there is a certain British Gesture that goes with the phrase that would probably rmove any doubts |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Ed T Date: 11 Nov 10 - 06:22 PM Cancer sticks (cigarettes) |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: kendall Date: 11 Nov 10 - 07:12 PM coffin nails cigarettes. |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Dave Hanson Date: 11 Nov 10 - 07:26 PM One eyed trouser snake ? Dave H |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Dave MacKenzie Date: 11 Nov 10 - 07:36 PM coffin nails - cigarettes (especially Woodbines) |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Joe_F Date: 11 Nov 10 - 08:28 PM "Coffin nail" & "cancer stick" are dysphemisms, not euphemisms. The first is more than 100 years old. Some time ago I read a magazine article by an old man who had been an actual 19th-century cowboy. He said it made him hoot to see cigarette advertisements featuring cowboys. In his day, cowboys wouldn't have been caught dead smoking cigarettes, which they thought effeminate and referred to as pimp sticks. He explained: Cigarettes were introduced as an attempt to make a ladylike cigar that women would smoke. But in those days no respectable woman smoked, so the people who took them up first were the whores. The pimps followed their example & thus were the first male cigarette smokers. |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Ed T Date: 11 Nov 10 - 08:37 PM Woodie, the bedroom morning snake. |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Ed T Date: 11 Nov 10 - 08:41 PM Dirt Squirrel (female of questionable character) |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Ed T Date: 11 Nov 10 - 08:55 PM Flogging the frog Candid photography (nudge, nudge) Playing "hide the weiner" Horozontal recreation Playing chesterfield checkers Watching submarine races (lovers lane overlooking the water) 8+8 (ate plus ate, or 69) |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Gurney Date: 12 Nov 10 - 12:12 AM 'Just Juice' is a brand name here. It is used as a euphenism for a vasectomy. |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: GUEST,Patsy Date: 12 Nov 10 - 05:51 AM 'Just having 40 winks' rather than admitting to falling asleep. A Cat Nap, meaning short refreshing rest. 'Brahms and Lizt' meaning drunk. 'Caught with pants down' caught in the act. So busy I almost met myself coming back. My dad remarking once on a lady's big breasts said, 'she looks just like a question mark'. 'I've got eyes at the back of my head' mothers warning children to behave. |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: MGM·Lion Date: 12 Nov 10 - 06:32 AM Nobody, surprisingly, has mentioned Private Eye's "Ugandan discussions". Wiki ~~~ "Ugandan discussions", or a variation thereof, is often used as a euphemism for illicit sex, usually while carrying out a supposedly official duty. The term originally refers to an incident at a party hosted by journalist Neal Ascherson and his first wife, at which fellow journalist Mary Kenny had a "meaningful confrontation" with a former cabinet minister in the government of Milton Obote, later claiming that they were "upstairs discussing Uganda". ~Michael~ |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 12 Nov 10 - 07:10 AM "A chocolate teapot" for something guaranteed not to be relied on. Similarly, "A LibDem pledge". |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Ed T Date: 12 Nov 10 - 07:18 AM Barney's friend, BJ Clinton, Banana juice,Big John, or Beef Jerkey (BJ) Fucking the dog and selling the pups (unemployed) |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: melodeonboy Date: 12 Nov 10 - 07:45 AM Have I missed it, or have we forgotten about Mr. James Riddle? |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Liane Date: 12 Nov 10 - 11:08 AM Moving on from excretion and sex to death: "He opened himself up a worm farm" (southern US) |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Becca72 Date: 12 Nov 10 - 11:17 AM screwed the pooch - made a big mistake paying the water bill - Number 1 assumed room temperature - died (a personal favorite) |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Ed T Date: 12 Nov 10 - 11:22 AM Not playing with a full deck, a nut job, hamsters fell of the wheel, one fry short of a happy meal, one stick short of a package of gum, one card short of a deck of cards, one donut short of a dozen, one brick shy of a full load, lights are on but nobody's home, a dime short of a dollar, a sandwich short of a cut lunch, lift doesn't go to the top floor.(not bright, crazy, simple, naive) |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: GUEST,kendall Date: 12 Nov 10 - 11:25 AM Not threaded all the way on. Has a room upstairs that's not finished. Numb as a pounded thumb |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Bill D Date: 12 Nov 10 - 11:32 AM "hiking the Appalachian trail"---meeting a mistress in secret |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Liane Date: 12 Nov 10 - 11:33 AM Continuing in this vein: not the brightest light on the porch, not the sharpest tool in the shed; and a variant on the hamster one that Ed T mentions: the wheel is still turning, but the hamster is dead. |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Becca72 Date: 12 Nov 10 - 11:53 AM the cheese fell of his cracker his Slinky is kinked |
Subject: RE: BS funny euphemisms From: Ed T Date: 12 Nov 10 - 12:07 PM Over the hill, too old to cut the mustard, senior, 100 years young, (age) Been around, has a checkered past, launched a few ships (experienced) Constructed a few liquor stores (drinker) |
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