Origins of common slang & tech talk: your everyday language makes you a foul-mouthed weirdo

Sort of the opposite direction: “rape” used to mean “abduction”. Steel yourself for this if you ever go to see The Fantasticksthe dad pays a rogue to “rape” his daughter.

I bet you’re a smash hit at dinner parties.

EEeeeeeeuuuuw! No, I did NOT know it meant that, I thought it referred to his swashbuckling ways around an adventure (you know, like he sneaks successfully into the bad guy’s haunt to steal the treasure or whatever). Ugh.

And thanks a lot you just ruined a fave saying of mine. :smiley:

Miss Jane and I shall go out for a walk this afternoon, and when I get her somewhere private, I shall endeavor to make love to her. That is, flirt. What, you accuse me of being a a cad? A scoundrel?! Ungentlemanly behavior? Pfah! I say! Pfah! Pistols at dawn!

It’s not a slang word, but (according to Charles Panati anyway) in the 17th and 18th centuries enemas were all the rage especially among the upper classes and, as they were thought to restore the humors and fluids to their most healthy state, were called restaurants or ristorantes depending upon where you lived.

I don’t allow the kids to say suck, and when they look shocked or ask me why, I tell them that is something they need to ask their parents when they get home. I think I’m the only teacher in the building who neither allows it nor uses it (in front of the students).

Really? That blows

I’m pretty sure the common use of “sucks” was proven in one thread to have evolved independently of its sexual usage.

Wasn’t there a thread recently where it was debated without definite conclusion whether “sucks” refers to fellatio or comes from the British football cheer “Rah! Boo! Sucks to you!”?

ETA: Yeah, what BigT said.

Hmm - let’s review:

…perhaps.

“Rock Around The Clock” makes a bit more sense in that context as well.

No it wasn’t. It was originally tinder or “touchwood”, which leads to the first informal meaning of “plucky or courageous”.

ETA: I just realized I made this assertion to someone called WordMan. Still think I’m right though.

“Intercourse” has yet to be mentioned? It means “talk.”

Are you sure you don’t mean “discourse”?

I think “intercourse” is synonymous with any interaction, whether it be verbal, sexual, or other.

Again in the opposite direction – My mother-in-law told my wife once that she had a “hickey” on her chin. It took me a minute to realize that she meant “pimple.”

It’s okay - my dad called me **shmendrick **on a regular basis…:wink:

I think my ignorance is fought - a quick online check showed three references to your word origin. On Urban Dictionary, they unsurprisingly focus on the semen-related definitions…

Not necessarily.

OP is a berk. Rhyming slang, where as usual the actual rhyme has bee elided. “Berkshire Hunt” = you work it out