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26 Jan 09 - 02:48 PM (#2549597) Subject: BS: Words origins and meanings From: katlaughing How's that for a generic title? 'spose this could go anywhere and I know, we've had other threads similar, but I couldn't find any recent ones that looked likely for this, so here goes: First one: screwed, blued, and tattooed Question: What does "blued" mean? I've read several theories including shore leave and getting a set of tailored dress "blues," to bluing in laundry, to a medical tincture which left one's kin blue when applied. What say you O'august Ones? |
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26 Jan 09 - 02:52 PM (#2549600) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: curmudgeon Short for "blue blind paralytic drunk." The order of the phrase is correct as one probably could not do the first after the second, and would be less likely to do the third without the second. Just my guess, based on many years around a Navy town - Tom |
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26 Jan 09 - 03:11 PM (#2549612) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: Liz the Squeak "which left one's kin blue when applied" So THAT'S what happened to uncle Norman. Mind you, he's making a fortune as one of the Blue Man Group! LTS |
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26 Jan 09 - 03:17 PM (#2549617) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: SINSULL thumbing for a ride - I just started a thread asking for the origin. |
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26 Jan 09 - 03:37 PM (#2549635) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: katlaughing OOps. puir Uncle Norman! Do you want me to combine the threads, Sins? |
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26 Jan 09 - 03:54 PM (#2549655) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: SINSULL Not necessary kat. Spaw will show up soon with references to thumbs up his whatever and Paw and Cletus. I can use a laugh. M |
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26 Jan 09 - 04:00 PM (#2549660) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: Amos I suspect that S,B, and T is just rhyming slang used as emphasis for the basic condition of being screwed, which means "fucked" in the sense of being done for, or in an untenable or unviable position. My reason is that I have never heard the phrase used except as an emphasized form of being "screwed". Thumbing for a ride derives from the practice of standing by the side of the road sticking out your thumb in a gesture meaning "going my way? Want ride." This is the standard stance for hitch-hiokers all over America and Western Europe, and perhaps the world, I don't know. A |
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26 Jan 09 - 06:00 PM (#2549758) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: katlaughing That's what my Rog said about blued, too, Amos, but I like curmudgeon's better.:-) |
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26 Jan 09 - 06:13 PM (#2549769) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: Little Hawk "Blue" is also used in regards to sex, as in Otto's immortal words to the English barrister Archie (John Cleese) in "A Fish Called Wanda" when he says of his supposed sister Wanda, "Pork away. Fuck her blue.", thus indicating that he will no longer violently intrude upon their private trysts and interrupt their intended romping, but will stand aside and allow them full rein to freely express their passion for one another. Otto's use of language is, as usual, somewhat crude and insensitive, but his meaning is quite clear. To fuck someone blue would be to reduce them to a more or less breathless state, I'm assuming. In other words, give them the full treatment and don't hold back. |
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26 Jan 09 - 06:20 PM (#2549772) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: Q (Frank Staplin) Amos seems to be correct for current usage, but Curmudgeon's definition also holds; blue for drunk goes back to 1813. Some others for drunk- blue-fuddled, blue-corned, blue as razors; all from the 1820s. Lighter, Historical Dictionary of American Slang. |
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27 Jan 09 - 12:30 AM (#2549932) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: katlaughing Thanks, Q! LH, wouldn't that be a bit redundant? Screwed blue and tattooed, maybe, but screwed AND blued?*bg* |
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27 Jan 09 - 07:31 PM (#2550594) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: Rowan Sticking out the thumb was the go when I was hitchiking around Oz. Cheers, Rowan |
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28 Jan 09 - 10:50 AM (#2551008) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: Escapee I've heard it as "screwed, glued...". Glue would go with screws, but it doesn't seem to relate too well to the tattoo part. Bluing is also a metal finishing process, although it looks more black to me. |
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28 Jan 09 - 11:11 AM (#2551034) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: katlaughing Except I always took "screwed" to mean fucked, not actually little metal auger-like thingies.:-) Never heard the "glued"...wonder where that came from? |
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29 Jan 09 - 03:11 AM (#2551696) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: Jim Carroll Screwed = tipsy "like a four-bottle man" - "not firm on his legs, but by no means subdued" (circa 1840) Blued = Drunk (From 'Blue Tape gin, presumably a brand name) (19th-20th century) Glue-pot = a public house (circa 1880) Also = has gonorrhea Also = a parson - (from joining men and women together) Take your pick Jim Carroll |
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29 Jan 09 - 07:56 PM (#2552440) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: Donuel rule of thumb. The rule was an unwritten law in America that one could legally beat their wife with any stick that was smaller than the diameter of the husbands thumb. (heard this one from Ken Burns) |
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20 Sep 10 - 12:50 PM (#2990348) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: Q (Frank Staplin) LEAK Put in caps because it is used in the news every day, both with regard to the release of classified information (Afghanistan) by Wikileaks, and the oil that gushed from the BP well in the Gulf of Mexico. Terence (2nd century B. C.), wrote a play in which one of the characters gossiped confidential information; "I am full of holes. I leak at every point." Leak mostly meant the drip of a faucet, or other low volume release of liquid. Referring to the wholesale release of confidential material about operations in Afghanistan, Prof. Feaver of Duke Univ. said "To call the torrent a leak is to insult the laws of thermodynamics." To call the torrent of oil that gushed from the BP well a 'leak' also seems inadequate. |
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20 Sep 10 - 12:51 PM (#2990349) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: Q (Frank Staplin) Forgot citation- New York Times, Aug. 22, 2010, article in magazine section. |
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20 Sep 10 - 12:57 PM (#2990355) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: Uncle_DaveO Donuel, the thumb and stick explanation you referred to has long been exploded. See Snopes. Dave Oesterreich |
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20 Sep 10 - 01:18 PM (#2990366) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: Ibbel For me the combination of "blued and tattood" points to woad: Wiki on woad And I would assume that the 'screwed' could only happen if the right colouring and tattooing was present. Or perhaps, after you screwed someone of another tribe, you had to get the same blue tattoos to be allowed into the 'family'... Only my 2 cents... |
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20 Sep 10 - 01:26 PM (#2990370) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: Q (Frank Staplin) When ordering a steak in a restaurant, blue means seared, insides heated but essentially raw. |
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20 Sep 10 - 03:06 PM (#2990415) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: Jim Dixon Actually, I've never heard it as "screwed, blued, and tattooed" but I've heard "stewed, screwed, and tattooed." "Stewed" means "drunk." (But you probably knew that.) Which reminds me, my wife and I were once shopping for a new sofa, and the salesman praised one model by pointing out how well built it was. He said it was "glued, screwed, and double-dowelled." That made us laugh (but I don't think he got the joke). |
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20 Sep 10 - 05:14 PM (#2990490) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: Q (Frank Staplin) Glued, screwed and double-dowelled means poor quality materials. Examine quality furniture, pre-1900, and a sofa would contain no screws; mortice and tenon joints would hold the members solidly together. Dowels might be used on non-load-bearing members. Not too long ago older furniture of solid construction was available cheaply if the upholstery was decrepit, but now it is recognized as superior to the lower quality wood and joinery of much of the newer furniture. Upholstery may be applied according to the taste of the owner. Dowels were common in chairs. The dowels in time would wear and become loosened; a good craftsman would replace them with a size that would fit tightly while the poor one would use screws and/or (heaven forfend!) nails. Screws were often used in cheaper furniture. |
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21 Sep 10 - 07:38 AM (#2990765) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: GUEST,Patsy My mum used to say that such and such a person must be on a good screw = meaning: wage. It used to make me and my then husband snigger a bit. My husband used to use the word 'shrammed' to describe being cold and wet through to the bone. My family and I had never heard of it. |
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21 Sep 10 - 09:03 AM (#2990795) Subject: RE: BS: Origins and meanings of words and phrases From: Charmion The dialect word I know for "shrammed" is "clemmed", a condition likely to arise from exposure to a "snell" wind. |