Okay, this has been bothering me for a while. I know that telling someone to “get bent” is a harsh, bordering on offensive way of expressing extreme displeasure towards them.
But what, exactly, does it mean? From whence does this bizarre order come?
Was it groundbreaking the first time someone said “Oh, get bent!” on primetime television, or was it as much a non-event as if they’d said “You jerk, get outta my face!” instead?
WAG: The phrase “don’t get bent out of shape” meant relax, take it easy, chill. So if you wished the opposite on the person, you tell them to “get bent” instead.
My understanding of the term was as in “bent over and f*cked”. So “get bent” is short hand and not as obvious.
I popularized this phrase back in the mid-60s at Fort Hays State University.
My interpretation of the phrase was along the lines of ShibbOleth’s.
Gee, I always thought it was wishing that the target’s male gentalia would become crooked.
“bent” is (or was in the 1930’s-1950’s) a common synonym for gay or homosexual. (There is a famous play titled Bent about gay prisoners in the Nazi concentration camps.)
So saying “get bent” would mean “go gay”, which would probably be considered offensive by many people (especially homophobic ones).