# Man, is this \*cool\* or what?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-is-this-cool-or-what/184490>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 26, 2003, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-is-this-cool-or-what/184490 "2003-06-26T11:30:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-is-this-cool-or-what/184490/41 "2003-06-30T12:06:04Z")

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Ouch! Missed **Lizard’s** and **Canvas Shoes’** post, sorry!

Q

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**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-is-this-cool-or-what/184490/42 "2003-06-30T12:33:24Z")

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There was a movie based on a book with the title “Semi-Tough” which had a scale from 1-10 (surprise!) but instead of numbers they used descriptives. I can’t remember them all but I believe a 9 was Semi-Tough, with the idea that there never had been nor never would be a true 10.

Others IIRC included Stove, Stovette, Dirty Leg, Running Sore.

I can’t help but wonder how _cool_ has somehow morphed into _hot_ in some usages.

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