# Pardon my french...(Warning - R rated) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 4, 1999, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322 "1999-06-04T02:29:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 1999, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/21 "1999-06-05T13:07:00Z")
Well, I don’t know if everyone would have the same reaction, but I would give someone a pretty funny look if they started talking about shagging golf balls… ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 1999, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/22 "1999-06-05T14:06:00Z")
> [@](#): > > There is what I considered to be a common vernacular meaning for the word “shag” in the U.S. - as a verb transitive, to > chase after, fetch, retrieve i.e. “He shagged golf balls at the driving range for a living.” Has this usage become obsolete? Not hardly. Outfielders still shag flies every day in batting practice. ## I’m sure UDD’s imagining all sorts of horrid things being done to household pests now… 🙂 **~jon** ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 1999, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/23 "1999-06-05T14:35:00Z")
Maybe it’s a regional thing. I’ve got to admit, when I hear “shag” it’s soccer practice that comes to mind, not porking, boinking or doing… ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 1999, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/24 "1999-06-05T14:49:00Z")
Until Austin Powers, I’d only heard shag used in relation to 20 year old carpet. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 1999, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/25 "1999-06-05T14:53:00Z")
Surely we cannot forget a “shag” haircut? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 1999, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/26 "1999-06-05T14:59:00Z")
I remember in the 70s, when the two women from the band Heart had shag haircuts. The joke at the time was “What’s black and blonde, has four legs, and barks?” Does anybody still cut their hair like that, anymore? Except Rod Stewart, of course. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 1999, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/27 "1999-06-05T18:07:00Z")
> [@](#): > > It certainly has. I couldn’t beleive that they could get away with calling a film that! You can’t be serious, Biggles. As a viewer of British comedy (one of the reasons why I watch PBS despite their weekly groveling for money), I have heard the word “shag” used in several instances, especially in _Blackadder_ and _Monty Python_. Why would it be acceptable on television and not in a movie? * * * “[He] beat his fist down upon the table and hurt his hand and became so further enraged… that he beat his fist down upon the table even harder and hurt his hand some more.” – Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 1999, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/28 "1999-06-05T21:19:00Z")
I’ve also heard “shag” as an early '60s slang term for dancing. Or maybe it was a particular kind of dance – the shag, like the twist? Not having been around back then, I’m not 100% clear. * * * “The fact that no one understands you doesn’t mean that you’re an artist.” ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 1999, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/29 "1999-06-05T21:31:00Z")
When I was in England recently, I heard the word “shag” all the time. Granted, I stayed with people who were in their twenties and they were talking about this bird shagged that bloke and the like…I don’t think I ever heard it either in front of or coming from more conservative adults. imagine this title “Austin Powers; The Spy who F\*\*\*\*\* Me” sorry - made _me_ chuckle ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 1999, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/30 "1999-06-06T00:07:00Z")
I heard the Monkees had a real hard time with the song “Randy Scouse Git.” It was just called Song #12 or something equally bland. I asked an English friend of mine and he just laughed in my face, and refused to explain it to me. Come to think of it, he’s not that great of a friend. * * * Cave Canem. Beware the Dog. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 1999, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/31 "1999-06-06T00:31:00Z")
hehehe randy = horny here’s a pretty good link if you want to figure out what British words are equivilent to in America, and American words in Britain - [The American·British British·American Dictionary](http://www.peak.org/~jeremy/dictionary/dict.html) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 1999, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/32 "1999-06-06T00:34:00Z")
oops - forgot to add this scouse = a person from Liverpool git = stupid person, jerk, also nasty person, real bastard all together = not a very nice name for a song - lol ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 1999, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/33 "1999-06-06T01:08:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Outfielders still shag flies every day in batting practice. – Jon Morse What those baseball wierdos do in the privacy of their home with consenting adults is there business, but… ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 1999, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/34 "1999-06-06T14:42:00Z")
> [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > What about the film, “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me”? Has this title actually caused some controversy over there, as I have heard? > > ## All I’ve heard is that Singapore made them change the name of the film, as the government there doesn’t much appreciate such terms… > > ~jon Okay, as far as Singapore goes… As far as I know, Singapore is the only place where the controversy got as big as it did. Due to the controversy, they (I have no idea who “they” are) changed the name of the movie to “The Spy Who Shoiked Me,” which, in the local slang, means “treated me nicely.” ## Apparently, they recently decided that they’d let the original title slide, and it will be shown as “The Spy Who Shagged Me” now in Singapore. Steve Christ God in Training ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 1999, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/35 "1999-06-15T04:58:00Z")
> [@](#): > > You can’t be serious, Biggles. As a viewer of British comedy (one of the reasons why I watch PBS despite their weekly groveling for money), I have heard the word “shag” used in several instances, especially in Blackadder and Monty Python. Why would it be acceptable on television and not in a movie? It’s perfectly (well mostly) acceptable IN the film, but as the TITLE of a film it’s a different matter. By way of comparison consider NYPD Blue. That programme uses a good number of words that would no major Hollywood studio would ever allow in a film title. For the record, I confirm that back on the isle the word ‘bloody’ is no big deal anymore, though this was certainly not always the case. Unlike Biggles I probably would not use it in front of my grannies, but then they’re both Irish 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 1999, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/36 "1999-06-15T18:08:00Z")
Shall we discuss the James Bond flick “Octopussy” now? How the H\*LL did that ever get by the censors? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 1999, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/37 "1999-06-15T18:31:00Z")
Regarding “Octopussy” Pussy is what those crazy brits call , yes. their cats. It is the Yanks who put it in the gutter. I’m wondering because a 007 film is probably a British made and subsequently released production, we Yanks would have no say in the title. This is just a guess. BUT I would say that if the Brits wanted to do a sequel called Octobeaver, it wouldn’t make it. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 1999, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/38 "1999-06-16T01:24:00Z")
How then do you account for the character Pussy Galore in Goldfinger? A cat reference? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 1999, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/39 "1999-06-16T09:26:00Z")
In Japan the equivalent would be ‘baka’ (literally ‘fool’). But you hear it on TV, from children etc. Its not the word itself, but how you say it. On the other hand they have pronouns for ‘you’ over here that will start a fight. Anata wa America-jin desu ka? = Are you an American? Temae American-jin desu ka? = Hey you fucking asshole, are you an American? Also, most Japanese equate the word fuck with rape for some reason. Some of the Brits I know over here can bandy around ‘fuck’ with what seems to be a little less vulgarity than when an American uses the word. So, what’s in a word? * * * There is no course of life so weak and sottish as that which is managed by order, method, and discipline. -Montaigne ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 1999, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322/40 "1999-06-17T01:36:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Regarding “Octopussy” Pussy is what those crazy brits call , yes. their cats. It is the Yanks who put it in the gutter. I’m wondering because a 007 film is probably a British made and subsequently released production, we Yanks would have no say in the title. This is just a guess. BUT I would say that if the Brits wanted to do a sequel called Octobeaver, it wouldn’t make it. We understand ‘pussy’ perfectly thank you very much 🙂 The word’s double meaning made it permissible, but it wasn’t completely without controversy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pardon-my-french-warning-r-rated/1322.md?page=3)