# 1800(?)s Insult **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 19, 2020, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197 "2020-02-19T22:45:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/1 "2020-02-19T22:45:05Z")
I hope I’m posting in the right forum. I seem to remember someone posting to a thread I was reading a few months ago about some type of social interaction from the 1800s where you would look directly at someone but otherwise not acknowledge them, and this was considered a powerful insult towards them. I cant find that thread, does anyone else remember it? Don’t need answer fast. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/2 "2020-02-19T22:57:24Z")
It sounds like a version of [cutting them](https://www.history.com/news/cutting-was-the-brutal-victorian-version-of-throwing-shade) - acting towards them like someone you’d never met. It would normally be expected that if you met a friend or acquaintance in the street you would acknowledge them in some way - tip of the hat for gentlemen, a nod for ladies, at the very least. If you didn’t do those things, that was an “I don’t know you” signal - very powerful if you did in fact know the person. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/3 "2020-02-19T23:13:54Z")
Yes, you’re definitely looking for cutting, which Wikipedia lists under [snub](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snub). I’ve done a number of SDMB searches, but can’t seem to find a related thread. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/4 "2020-02-19T23:21:58Z")
Also … nah, you totally don’t want this to be in ATMB. It’s more of a General Question, really. However, those of us who browse the Dope via the ‘New Posts’ button don’t really care so much. I’m amusing myself now by trying to figure out how you would implement the Victorian “cut” on a message board. Possibly a big flashing banner “YOU ARE ON XXXX’s IGNORE LIST! HAVE A CRAPPY DAY!” that appears whenever both you and XXXX both post to a thread… ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/5 "2020-02-19T23:44:24Z")
Thanks everyone! ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/6 "2020-02-20T00:00:42Z")
Georgette Heyer described this as “the cut direct”. Not pretending to be looking elsewhere but making it very clear that you no longer considered this person to be part of your circle. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/7 "2020-02-20T01:37:40Z")
The Amish “shun” people – you lose all your family ties, you have no standing in the community. People don’t acknowledge you. It’s almost like you died. Jenny your humble TubaDiva Administrator ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/8 "2020-02-20T02:20:20Z")
Moved to GQ from ATMB. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/9 "2020-02-20T02:39:11Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > It would normally be expected that if you met a friend or acquaintance in the street you would acknowledge them in some way - tip of the hat for gentlemen, a nod for ladies, at the very least. You have those acknowledgements switched. Tip hat to ladies, nod to gentlemen. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/10 "2020-02-20T02:42:45Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > Georgette Heyer described this as “the cut direct”. Not pretending to be looking elsewhere but making it very clear that you no longer considered this person to be part of your circle. Yeah, this is the “cut direct” - not going out of your way to avoid someone (which is an acknowledgement of their existence), or going up to insult them (which indicates that you think they are worth talking to), but observing that they exist in some theoretical sense, but are of no interest to you, in any way. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/11 "2020-02-20T02:54:09Z")
Sometimes, by the way, you see the phrase “cut him dead” or “cut her dead” - that’s just a more dramatic way of referring to the “cut direct” - ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/12 "2020-02-20T04:52:40Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > You have those acknowledgements switched. Tip hat to ladies, nod to gentlemen. For, not to. Ladies hats didn’t come off - they nodded. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/13 "2020-02-20T13:02:35Z")
> [@skdo23](#): > > I hope I’m posting in the right forum. I seem to remember someone posting to a thread I was reading a few months ago about some type of social interaction from the 1800s where you would look directly at someone but otherwise not acknowledge them, and this was considered a powerful insult towards them. I cant find that thread, does anyone else remember it? Don’t need answer fast. Thanks! Is this the post in question? [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19844340&postcount=47](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19844340&postcount=47) ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/14 "2020-02-20T15:55:19Z")
There were no formal rules, but ‘cutting’ someone by ignoring them was definitely a thing, well into the 20th century. It probably still is - but when manners where more formal it was a bigger deal and more noticeable. ‘Staring’ was something different. To stare fixedly at someone in silence was considered very rude. As it still is today. From Francis Grose’s _Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence_ (1811): > [@](#): > > To CUT. (Cambridge.) To renounce acquaintance with any one is to cut him. There are several species of the CUT. Such as the cut direct, the cut indirect, the cut sublime, the cut infernal, &c. The cut direct, is to start across the street, at the approach of the obnoxious person in order to avoid him. The cut indirect, is to look another way, and pass without appearing to observe him. The cut sublime, is to admire the top of King’s College Chapel, or the beauty of the passing clouds,till he is out of sight. The cut infernal, is to analyze the arrangement of your shoestrings, for the same purpose. NB: This is a light and humorous book, and shouldn’t be taken entirely seriously. ‘Cambridge’ means a term particularly used at Cambridge University. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/15 "2020-02-22T07:23:32Z")
Somewhat similar term, “the silence”, as in “when he entered the room, everyone dropped what they were doing and gave him ‘the silence.’” Although the only source I can find for the term at present is an old [NYT article](https://www.nytimes.com/1973/09/12/archives/cadet-committee-at-west-point-does-a-way-with-the-silence-cadet.html) about a form of ostracism at West Point that does not strictly fit that usage. I am recalling, however, an incident involving George C. Marshall when he was a cadet at VMI. Not for an honor violation, but just because the other cadets felt like being dicks one day at lunch. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/16 "2020-02-27T19:45:08Z")
As it happens, I’m now reading _Bad Blood_ by John Carreyrou, about an ultimately-doomed Silicon Valley startup whose CEO was notorious for staring at people she disliked but not speaking to them - sometimes when she was speaking to someone else, but saying things which clearly were about the stare-ee. I was once on the fringes of a court case involving a dad who left the Amish faith and a mom who remained in the church. He was shunned. When he later sought custody of their kids, all the Amish in the courtroom (there to be supportive of the mom) looked anywhere during his testimony \*except \*at him. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2020, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/17 "2020-02-27T19:51:44Z")
Sought custody of their kids, I meant to add, but got locked out due to #$%^! 504 errors until after five minutes had passed. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/18 "2020-02-28T19:04:42Z")
And now the correction is there in the original post. Hmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2020, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1800-s-insult/848197/19 "2020-02-28T20:12:25Z")
Despite their rejection of technology, the Amish have learned how to use the Ignore List. :eek: Regards, Shodan