# Is getting 'hosed' vulgar? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744 "2009-09-03T14:36:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/1 "2009-09-03T14:36:40Z")
I think it’s not a vulgarity, but, I can see it being a penile reference. On my side, this commercial was on TV, but I cannot remember if it was cable or broadcast. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/RaDxcVPxB3g/hqdefault.jpg "Sermon on the Mountain Dew") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaDxcVPxB3g) Anybody know? Thanks, hh ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/2 "2009-09-03T14:44:15Z")
[Hosed - phrase meaning and origin](http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/51/messages/823.html)] > [@](#): > > : One reference has “hosed” under “The Slang Yack of the Computer Hack” and says it means “nonfunctioning.” “Flappers 2 Rappers: American Youth Slang” by Tom Dalzell (Merriam-Webster Inc., Springfield, Md., 1996) Page 196. Doesn’t say anything about the origin. > > : Hosed-out – adj. exhausted by fatigue; washed out. 1969, Jessup, “Sailor” 298: Never seen a crew hosed out like them. “Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume 2, H-O, by J.E. Lighter, Random House, New York, 1997.” Page 167. Personally, I’m wondering if it comes from the practice of siphoning gasoline using a hose. “You got hosed” = “somebody ganked your fuel”. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/3 "2009-09-03T14:47:06Z")
Well, those definitions don’t really match the context in which I’ve heard it. I’ve heard it more in the sense that getting hosed meant getting the raw end of the deal, getting cheated, or getting tricked, something similar. Thanks for the answer, hh ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Philosopher)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/4 "2009-09-03T14:49:57Z")
I don’t know the origin, but I know it’s used even in fairly formal contexts - I’ve seen the term used on news channels and political websites. So even if the origin is vulgar it can’t be a vulgar phrase nowadays… ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/5 "2009-09-03T14:51:06Z")
Just to be safe, you may want to switch to the completely non-offensive term, “boned.” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/6 "2009-09-03T14:54:48Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > Well, those definitions don’t really match the context in which I’ve heard it. I’ve heard it more in the sense that getting hosed meant getting the raw end of the deal, getting cheated, or getting tricked, something similar. > Thanks for the answer, > hh Right- that’s where the gas tank theory comes in. ---
**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 3, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/7 "2009-09-03T15:09:04Z")
If the origin is simply “hosed out,” it just refers to cleaning something out with powerful water hoses, which would be common enough in industrial sites. It could also have been influenced by the practice of breaking up demonstrations in the 1950s and 1960s by turning fire hoses on protesters. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/8 "2009-09-03T15:41:58Z")
The ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) approved, in a manner of speaking, of the ad and did sign off on the script (although there was a lot of electronic discussion of it going on about it from what I remember). My take was that in this context “hosed” basically meant “screwed” but the official decission from church headquarters was that it meant “tricked”. But mostly it all came down to dollars - Mountain Dew sold a lot of product with the ad and the ELCA got a big boost in the funds they needed to try to resurrect the Davey and Goliath series. If you check around the closed meetings/archives of Ecunet, some of the old discussions may still be available in zip form. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/9 "2009-09-03T15:51:42Z")
[Bob and Doug McKenzie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_and_Doug_McKenzie) called each other and other people hosers derisively quite frequently, and it isn’t a stretch from there to a hoser hosing people. So, in closing, getting hosed is kind of vulgar, but not very in the grand scheme of things, so take off, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Never\_Say\_Dice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee59a6/32.png) [@Never\_Say\_Dice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Never_Say_Dice)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/10 "2009-09-03T15:56:35Z")
On the show SCTV, the segment about The Great White North, Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas would talk in Canadian accents about hosers and getting hosed. I presume it was the equivalent of British bugger all, etc. being a homosexal reference where that wasn’t considered beyond the pale in ordinary company. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/11 "2009-09-03T16:30:07Z")
> [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](#): > > I don’t know the origin, but I know it’s used even in fairly formal contexts - I’ve seen the term used on news channels and political websites. So even if the origin is vulgar it can’t be a vulgar phrase nowadays… TV news and US political commentary has been pretty vulgar for a long time. ---
**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 3, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/12 "2009-09-03T16:31:17Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > [Bob and Doug McKenzie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_and_Doug_McKenzie) called each other and other people hosers derisively quite frequently, and it isn’t a stretch from there to a hoser hosing people. > > So, in closing, getting hosed is kind of vulgar, but not very in the grand scheme of things, so take off, eh? > [@Never\_Say\_Dice](#): > > On the show SCTV, the segment about The Great White North, Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas would talk in Canadian accents about hosers and getting hosed. > I presume it was the equivalent of British bugger all, etc. being a homosexal reference where that wasn’t considered beyond the pale in ordinary company. Wiki and other sites attribute [hoser](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoser) (and hosehead) to the rural practice of siphoning gas from cars. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/13 "2009-09-03T23:23:57Z")
To get “hosed” used as a verb, has slang origins in four different senses== 1. Military, going back to 1917. To riddle with automatic weapon fire. 2. Student. To curry favor with. 3. Police and Underworld. To beat with a rubber hose. 4. Getting cheated or victimized, and also vulgar as “to copulate with.” ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/14 "2009-09-04T00:05:31Z")
Let’s stop overlooking the obvious. To get hosed means you got screwed, you got fucked, you got the hose up the ol’ wazoo! You can spin it all you want but it still means the same thing. You got fucked! Not to get too far off the track, but what the hell do you all think the expression “sucks” means? You hear it all the time nowadays. This sucks. That sucks. You suck. I suck. He sucks. She sucks. Everything sucks. It means “sucks cock” and don’t try to tell me anything different. It might be in the mainstream but don’t piss on my head and tell me it’s raining. Both expressions are indeed vulgar in their origin regardless of how much they are watered down by popular usage. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/15 "2009-09-04T00:19:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Is getting ‘hosed’ vulgar? It is if you do it right. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/16 "2009-09-04T00:43:30Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > Let’s stop overlooking the obvious. To get hosed means you got screwed, you got fucked, you got the hose up the ol’ wazoo! You can spin it all you want but it still means the same thing. You got fucked! > Not to get too far off the track, but what the hell do you all think the expression “sucks” means? You hear it all the time nowadays. This sucks. That sucks. You suck. I suck. He sucks. She sucks. Everything sucks. It means “sucks cock” and don’t try to tell me anything different. It might be in the mainstream but don’t piss on my head and tell me it’s raining. Both expressions are indeed vulgar in their origin regardless of how much they are watered down by popular usage. What you hear nowdays doesn’t always mean that’s where it started or meant when it started. Case in point, the “that sucks” you hear today probably started/came from “sucks to be you” from the turn of the Century. Probably not sexual at all. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/17 "2009-09-04T00:50:37Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > What you hear nowdays doesn’t always mean that’s where it started or meant when it started. > > Case in point, the “that sucks” you hear today probably started/came from “sucks to be you” from the turn of the Century. Probably not sexual at all. No kidding? That completely surprises me. But that seems to be predicated on “sucks” having some negative meaning at the Turn of the Century. Was “sucks” used in other contexts then (other than sucking on candy or nipples or whatever)? ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/18 "2009-09-04T01:08:02Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > What you hear nowdays doesn’t always mean that’s where it started or meant when it started. > > Case in point, the “that sucks” you hear today probably started/came from “sucks to be you” from the turn of the Century. Probably not sexual at all. Good lord man! The “turn of the century” was less than nine years ago! “Sucks” means fellatio. That’s what it meant in 2001 and that’s what it meant in 2000 and 1999, and 1998, etc. We’re talking about vulgar expressions. Getting “hosed” is vulgar. “Sucking” is vulgar. We’re dealing in facts and it is what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/19 "2009-09-04T01:09:19Z")
“Your grandmother sucks eggs.” Anyway, listen to **samclem** ; he actually knows what he’s talking about. Common sense can be misleading; counterintuitive as it may be, the evidence collected by those who study this sort of thing academically does indicate that the relevant sense of “sucks” quite likely did not, in fact, originally have anything to do with fellatio. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744/20 "2009-09-04T01:16:03Z")
I suppose the phrase is actually “go teach your grandmother to suck eggs”. My edit message is made even more prophetic… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-getting-hosed-vulgar/508744.md?page=2)