# Do we have a thread for SlackerInc yet? Maybe we should **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 2, 2018, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461 "2018-12-02T20:21:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 39
**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:** [September 5, 2020, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/762 "2020-09-05T06:19:30Z")
I have heard the expression “You don’t need to tell me how to suck an egg,” or variations thereof, many times. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/763 "2020-09-05T06:21:04Z")
Well, at least we established that the Slacker does not know about Ren and Stimpy. He also does not like to find others that do know a lot more than him about history and idioms. ---
**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:** [September 5, 2020, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/764 "2020-09-05T06:22:04Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > They don’t know any more than I did. I just googled it, and it’s some 18th-century English language idiom that no one uses anymore. Seriously. I have never ever heard of this, and the only citations for it mentioned online are more than 200 years old. Another perilous thing about trying to use idioms in a foreign language: you don’t know which ones are actually current. You just are displaying your utter ignorance. I’ve heard the idiom for many years, and use it occasionally myself. Yeah, it’s humorously archaic. No, it’s not from Spanish. **GIGObuster** knows English a lot better than you do. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/765 "2020-09-05T06:34:16Z")
Does anyone have a link to a good podcast, maybe a Sam Harris one, on the origins of the phrase ‘Go suck eggs’? Asking for a “friend”. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/766 "2020-09-05T06:51:08Z")
Here’s a couple: [Boo to a Goose](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9yc3MuYXJ0MTkuY29tL2J0YWc/episode/Z2lkOi8vYXJ0MTktZXBpc29kZS1sb2NhdG9yL1YwL1ViaTdHMUhzcjlHOWRDVUNOaFV4M3VWSTE2cTJfT3gxR1phYWlaQ1RuOFU?hl=en&ved=2ahUKEwiGv-fktdHrAhWKtJ4KHfNeDLoQjrkEegQIDBAF&ep=6) [28 Plays Later](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcHJlc3MubWUvMjhwbGF5c2xhdGVy/episode/aHR0cDovLzI4cGxheXNsYXRlci5jb20vP3A9NjEw?hl=en&ved=2ahUKEwiGv-fktdHrAhWKtJ4KHfNeDLoQjrkEegQIDBAI&ep=6) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/767 "2020-09-05T06:51:44Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Is “teaching Grandma how to suck eggs” a translation of an idiom from your native language? What does it mean? > > BTW, I have now translated two novels from French to English, and both authors were very happy with my work. 😛 I didn’t realize that coloring books were considered novels now… ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/768 "2020-09-05T08:41:10Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > **GIGObuster** knows English a lot better than you do. ‘Tis to laugh. I’m not going to dox myself by linking on Amazon to my translations. But I’ll give you a freebie. Give me a paragraph of French, maybe from some literary classic, and I’ll give you a paragraph of translation, to show you how good I really am. Just as I showed you guys how good I am at poker, a challenge also sparked in this thread: starting a SDMB poker league and holding the number one ranking (out of 8 contestants) every week but one so far. Speaking of which, poker is about as purely objective a method to match wits as anything I can think of, for people who tangle with each other online and talk smack about each other. You want to rebut my claimsintellectual hegemony? Then come and try to beat me. There is luck in the short term; but over time, results will out. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/769 "2020-09-05T08:48:35Z")
**GIGO** , I suggest you search the SDMB for “grandma suck eggs”. You will find a whole _bunch_ of posts from you (you really seem taken with this phrase),and one non-GIGO hit from before Obama was president. 😏 ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/770 "2020-09-05T08:50:24Z")
If translating from French doesn’t show your mastery of English I don’t know what does. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/771 "2020-09-05T08:56:05Z")
Seems like you think you are being snarky? But yes, lots of people can give you the basic gist of what someone is saying in French. Heck, most of the time Google Translate can do that. The reason my translations are so fucking sweet is that the paragraphs I write in English are stellar literary creations _in their own right._🕶 I don’t even claim to be the most “accurate” translator, just the translator who makes _the best English sentences_—while not straying too far from the literal meaning. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/772 "2020-09-05T09:00:01Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > {…}BTW, I have now translated two novels from French to English, and both authors were very happy with my work. Offer without _need_ for comment. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/773 "2020-09-05T09:27:13Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Give me a paragraph of French, maybe from some literary classic, and I’ll give you a paragraph of translation, to show you how good I really am. I have never found a good idiomatic translation for the motto of the French navy, perhaps you can assist. > A l’eau. C’est l’heure. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/774 "2020-09-05T09:33:24Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I have never ever heard of this, I take it you’ve never read Tolkien, then? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/775 "2020-09-05T11:30:17Z")
Sorry, need more proof. If you really want to prove how smart you are, I’ll need videos with you standing next to at least ten professors (with proof of their professorship) expounding to your brilliance, by name. Get to work. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/776 "2020-09-05T11:39:54Z")
But, but, he’s the bestest poker player here . . . that’s gotta be as good as a World Series bracelet, right? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/777 "2020-09-05T12:24:54Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I have never found a good idiomatic translation for the motto of the French navy, perhaps you can assist. > > > A l’eau. C’est l’heure. Is it: '_French Navy Sucks Eggs’_… ? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/778 "2020-09-05T12:37:19Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > **GIGO** , I suggest you search the SDMB for “grandma suck eggs”. You will find a whole _bunch_ of posts from you (you really seem taken with this phrase),and one non-GIGO hit from before Obama was president. 😏 Well thanks for your own goal. Everyone can see that you pondered if it was an idiom from my original Spanish language, then that no one else in the SDMB knew, and there is the bit where you think that I was not aware of how old fashion it was and that it was unheard of. You failed on all counts. As I noted elsewhere, a lot of the idioms I got came from being a prolific reader and viewer of history. And there was time for cartoons in the 90s that made me wonder what was that line’s meaning. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVM1nUmDHHc) The rest is history… … that records how wrong and ignorant you are. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/779 "2020-09-05T13:09:19Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Is it: ’ _French Navy Sucks Eggs’_ … ? Nah. It’s “ **Slackerinc** sucks eggs”. The French Navy adopted it as their motto after keeling hauling said _supreme and unparalleled translator_ for crimes against their mascot goat on board…it was a particularly a long voyage for the goat. ---
**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:** [September 5, 2020, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/780 "2020-09-05T13:48:33Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Sorry, need more proof. If you really want to prove how smart you are, I’ll need videos with you standing next to at least ten professors (with proof of their professorship) expounding to your brilliance, by name. You’re being unreasonable. Don’t you know there aren’t but a couple of academics who could even stand to be in a room with him? He’s just too damn smart and would put them all to shame with his vast knowledge. **Triple Nine** (self-declared), baby! ---
**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:** [September 5, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/781 "2020-09-05T16:55:20Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > > [@Colibri](#): > > > > **GIGObuster** knows English a lot better than you do. > > ‘Tis to laugh. > > I’m not going to dox myself by linking on Amazon to my translations. But I’ll give you a freebie. Give me a paragraph of French, maybe from some literary classic, and I’ll give you a paragraph of translation, to show you how good I really am. > > Just as I showed you guys how good I am at poker, a challenge also sparked in this thread: starting a SDMB poker league and holding the number one ranking (out of 8 contestants) every week but one so far. Speaking of which, poker is about as purely objective a method to match wits as anything I can think of, for people who tangle with each other online and talk smack about each other. You want to rebut my claimsintellectual hegemony? Then come and try to beat me. There is luck in the short term; but over time, results will out. A response like this is why you are such a laughingstock here. You ridiculed **GIGObuster** out of ignorance. He showed that he had a better knowledge of English idioms than you do. When your ignorance is demonstrated, you then try to change the subject. Whether or not you can translate French is irrelevant to the size of your vocabulary. And of course, whether you’re good at poker means fuck-all on the issue. The point is that your repeated efforts to denigrate **GIGObuster** for his English skills are pathetic. Regardless of relative proficiency in English, **GIGObuster** is much smarter and better informed than you are. Whenever you try to boast about your supposed intellectual achievements, I can’t help but think of [this.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgHXHtHSsNo) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461.md?page=38) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461.md?page=40)