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Forum Etymology Thread.

Started by SmallBlueThing(Reborn), 29 June, 2019, 01:27:37 PM

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SmallBlueThing(Reborn)

So, insects then...

No, I joke.

I was fortunate enough to recently be asked to have a read of a friend's debut novel. It's a Sci-Fi story, and by lucky hap I've really enjoyed it. And yes, it references 2000AD at one point, so I'll be mentioning its name when I'm done with it. He asked me to basically proofread, point out errors and watch for any anachronisms, it being set in the early eighties, and featuring teenage boys- as I lived then and I was one. 

Along the way this has brought up a conversation about the etymology of the phrase "fuck-off" as used as an adjective. As in "that is one big fuck-off spaceship". I want to know when that particular adjective became commonplace, as I don't recall hearing it in my youth. Google is not my friend in this instance, and I had hoped I would be able to track down its first usage in either literature or film/tv, but to no avail

Anyone with a better education/ filthy mouthed older brother know the answer to this?

SBT

Proudhuff

I can remember back in the eighties things being reffered to as BF items by my esteemed colleagues in Royal Mail.. took years to find out it meant Big F**cking
DDT did a job on me

I, Cosh

Dunno. Definitely in use in Central Scottish secondary schools by 1985.
We never really die.

Funt Solo

Quote from: I, Cosh on 29 June, 2019, 03:56:08 PM
Dunno. Definitely in use in Central Scottish secondary schools by 1985.

And the highlands.
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

The Legendary Shark



You know, I can't remember when I first heard it. It was always one of those that didn't seem to get used very often and more in the context of something threatening, like a f**k-off great bull appearing from behind this tree I was pissing on.

[move]~~~^~~~~~~~[/move]




Richard

I never heard it until this century (I'm in England), so it must be a Scottish thing.

Frank

Quote from: Richard on 29 June, 2019, 07:38:27 PM
I never heard it until this century (I'm in England), so it must be a Scottish thing.

Slang Dictionary reckons American:




I think John Self uses the phrase in Money, which was published in 1984. I wasn't reading Amis then, obviously; the first time I can remember hearing it was descriptions of Tank Girl's biker boots.



SmallBlueThing(Reborn)

That's brilliant, thanks everyone. I'm absolutely sure it was not anachronistic in a book set in 1983, but it did stick out a bit for me.

Please use this thread for discussion of ANY words of phrases that confuse the hell out of you, or just spark your interest.

The book, by the way is THE PILOT by David Gamer. Available on Amazon, and yes it does come with a specific reference to a particular 2000AD prog and the contents therein. It's definitely worth a read.

SBT

Buttonman

You got him a £2.29 Kindle sale - I'll report back later!

I'm sure a lot of terms will be covered in Roger's Profanisaurus but have get to find 'ghost shit'. It's one I often utter when I walk into an ostensibly clean toilet cubicle at work only to find the ghost shit is lurking and I'm soon enveloped in it's whiffy aura.

Dandontdare

Wasn't there a BFG (big fuck-offf gun) in Quake?

Leigh S

I assumed that was Big Fucking Gun, as per the NIN song?

Describing something as Fuck Off, as opposed to telling some to do so, is quite specific - I suspect it is an Irish/Scottish/Dudley sort of phrase that was popularised at some point, so not sure it is the same or as simple as finding the phrase "fuck off" as an instruction rather than decription!

Frank

Quote from: Leigh S on 30 June, 2019, 12:40:59 PM
I assumed that was Big Fucking Gun, as per the NIN song?

Big Man With A Gun, buddy.

Like NIИ's concept album, the use of BFG in Doom/Quake is nineties*, whereas Cosh and Fungus were able to locate the phrase in idiomatic Scots of the eighties. I definitely remember big fuck-off boots being a thing for Doc Marten-loving indie girls on the cusp of the eighties/nineties (the Neighnties).


* (so very nineties)

sheridan

Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 29 June, 2019, 08:58:46 PM
The book, by the way is THE PILOT by David Gamer. Available on Amazon, and yes it does come with a specific reference to a particular 2000AD prog and the contents therein. It's definitely worth a read.

SBT


Is it prog 687?

SmallBlueThing(Reborn)

No, not 687. You'll have to work out which one it is, like I had to!

SBT

Dudley

Quote from: Leigh S on 30 June, 2019, 12:40:59 PM
Describing something as Fuck Off, as opposed to telling some to do so, is quite specific - I suspect it is an Irish/Scottish/Dudley sort of phrase

Not guilty.