# Phrases used in popular culture that you don't know the definition of(explanations) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 27, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877 "2003-06-27T23:09:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/61 "2003-06-29T04:37:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zsofia \* > \*\*How do we get “dogs” to refer to what we used to call our “homies” or our “peeps”? And is “dogs” the current word or am I still behind in a middle class white girl kind of way? \*\* I’m going to go out on a limb, here… **Zsofia** Dog is actually MUCH older than “homies” or “peeps”. “Dog” is nothing new it terms of [slang](http://www.bartleby.com/61/0/D0320000.html), but I suspect that it’s most popular usage in the early to mid-eighties to refer to men informally is almost due entirely to the hugely influential and utterly inimitable hip-hop master, **George Clinton’s _Atomic Dog_.** Like “homies” and “peeps,” it caught on first on the East coast and spread everywhere from there. It’s typically reserved for greetings, ( i.e. "What up, dog?’) and shout-out at parties. And, NO – it’s not the current word now. I think “playa” is still king, maybe supplanted in some places by “pimp” or “hustler.” I only hear guys call each other “dog” if they’re over thirty-two or [**Calvin Broadus**.](http://image.pathfinder.com/who/photos/snoop-dogg.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/62 "2003-06-29T04:43:52Z")
[Jump The shark](http://www.jumptheshark.com/) is the best named website on the internet, devoted to the EXACT moment TV shows go wrong. The phrase comes from the episode of Happy Days where the Fonz uses his motorcycle and “jumps the shark”. Why? Who knows… who cares? ---
**Author:** ![Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aslan_of_Narnia)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/63 "2003-07-08T02:16:04Z")
To add another one that seems to be popping up with great frequency, MILF, which means “Mother I’d Like to Fuck.” Is this a recent phrase? I’ve only seen it come up in the last month or so. ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/64 "2003-07-08T02:40:50Z")
Chalk up the MILF term to web sites specialising in pics/videos of mature ladies. Ummm… I learnt this from my _ahem_ friend, yes… not me… ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/65 "2003-07-08T03:08:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jsgoddess \* > \*\*Way back in my college years, a tool was an extremely stupid or obnoxious guy. I never heard it referring to anyone female, and never in a joking way. > > I haven’t heard it used in a long time (I have no life) so I don’t know if the meaning has morphed. > \*\* I don’t think it has. When “tool” is used to refer to a person, in my experience it’s always been intended to mean “a stupid or obnoxious guy”. I would guess that the term evolved from the slang use of “tool” to mean “penis”, so calling a guy a “tool” is roughly equivelant to calling him a “dick”. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/66 "2003-07-08T03:54:43Z")
tool- a sellout, a corporate whore, especially when used of a trendy hip celebrity who shills for anything like, ohhhhhh- Carson Daly perhaps word to your mother- not negative at all, but a pledge that one is being totally truthful “I’ll give my word to your mother that this is totally true” Sir Rhosis had it correct on “My bad”, essentially “Sorry, my fault!” ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/67 "2003-07-08T05:50:33Z")
Thank goodness this thread came along. I’m living in perpetual ignorance of pop culture. Foremost on my mind is the H to the izzo thing. For the love of god, what does that MEAN? Is he trying to spell something? If so, what? (to demonstrate how profoundly out of it I am, while I have heard people _say_ that, usually in a joking way, I heard the song itself for the first time just three days ago.) Another thing that weighs heavily upon my soul is an internet-only … uh, punctuation mark, I guess. O\_o Any explanations? Everytime I see it, I think it means “I have a nervous tic and one of my eyes is always squinty” but that seems unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/68 "2003-07-08T07:18:07Z")
> [@](#): > > “Boo” is a really old word. I think it may come from Cajun French. You hear it (well, I don’t know about YOU, but I hear it ) in Louisiana a lot. Esp. by the gigantic cook who, when she saw us nearly chewing on our spoons in anticipation of what would be the most orgasmic etouffee/gumbo/crawdad combination plate, “It’s comin’, boo!” That’s cool. If it was originally a Cajun endearment, might it be a corruption of “beau” (pretty) in the sense of “cutie”? > [@](#): > > Foremost on my mind is the H to the izzo thing. For the love of god, what does that MEAN? Is he trying to spell something? If so, what? (to demonstrate how profoundly out of it I am, while I have heard people say that, usually in a joking way, I heard the song itself for the first time just three days ago.) I don’t know about any song like that, but when I was a kid in the 80’s, constructions like that were a sort of urban Pig Latin. Just throwing in “-izz\*-” in the middle of words to obfuscate meaning from eavesdroppers, or just a cool thing to do with your dogs. 😉 > [@](#): > > To add another one that seems to be popping up with great frequency, MILF, which means “Mother I’d Like to Fuck.” Is this a recent phrase? I’ve only seen it come up in the last month or so. I seem to remember first hearing about this in some dippy early 90’s teen flick (think “Wayne’s World”), but I could be imagining things. “My bad” = “mea culpa”, no? ---
**Author:** ![23skidoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f04885/32.png) [@23skidoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/23skidoo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/69 "2003-07-08T07:19:38Z")
That song called “Hey Ma” by Cam’ron… the one that samples “Easy Like Sunday Morning”… it has a lyric that says: Yo L, what up, I hit, what else, plus dome I understand everything except “plus dome”. Don’t speculate, but if you really know please clue me in. ---
**Author:** ![23skidoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f04885/32.png) [@23skidoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/23skidoo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/70 "2003-07-08T07:24:28Z")
Oh yeah, “H to the Izz-O, V to the Izz-A” means “H to the O, V to the A”, which spells out Hova. It’s a hypernickname of the rapper who sings the song: Jay-Z. It’s a shortening of Jay-Hova, which is a bastardization of Jehovah. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/71 "2003-07-08T08:11:29Z")
How about “Tell it to the hand”? I missed the memo on ths one. ---
**Author:** ![Cougarfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@Cougarfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cougarfang)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/72 "2003-07-08T10:29:36Z")
O\_o is supposed to be an upright emoticon denoting a surprised/shocked sort of anime-style face. “Tell it to the hand” is short for “Tell it to the hand 'cause the face ain’t listening.” Entirely derogatory. ---
**Author:** ![Dryga\_Yes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@Dryga\_Yes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dryga_Yes)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/73 "2003-07-08T10:38:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by moejuck \* > \*\*TJBLACK, > > My take on “fo shizzle my nizzle” is that it is just the new way to say “Shit my nigger!”. I could be wrong on this, since I ain’t “hip to be squared”. \*\* “Fo’ shizzle” is short for “for sure”, actually. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/74 "2003-07-08T11:13:14Z")
Okay, but what does that mean? Who said (or popularized) “Tell it to the hand”? Why “the hand” as opposed to, say, “the ass” or “the foot”? When did this become a catch-phrase known to everyone (but me) in the U.S.? ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vampire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Space\_Vampire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vampire)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/75 "2003-07-08T11:18:28Z")
Because it’s more convenient to put your hand in someone’s face to mean “shut up” rather than your ass. This phrase has been out forever, I think. I’ve never heard anyone I know use it seriously. I remember in high school we would say it jokingly in imitation of talk-show guests. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/76 "2003-07-08T11:48:21Z")
I’ll paraphrase from the book version of _Jump the Shark_: “Jumping the Shark” is that moment when a TV show, having exhausted its premise, begins to resort to novelty in a desperate attempt to keep the show interesting. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/77 "2003-07-08T12:26:39Z")
Thank you, kind people, for the information on Jay-Z and O\_o. A little more on the “tell it to the hand” – the gesture was first, you know, when you put your hand up, palm facing out, to interrupt someone (sort of like the gesture a traffic cop makes for “stop”, but with more dramatic flair). “Talk to the hand” means the same thing, that you’re not listening and any more talking will be in vain. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/78 "2003-07-08T12:30:22Z")
Ok, so my friend who told me “Shizzle ma nizzle” meant “suck my dick” was f\*cking with me??? God, I need to get out more. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/79 "2003-07-08T12:45:42Z")
“Milf” was popularized in the movie _American Pie_. I imagine the term is older than that, though. ---
**Author:** ![NoGoodNamesLeft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8797f3/32.png) [@NoGoodNamesLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoGoodNamesLeft)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877/80 "2003-07-08T12:49:34Z")
I’ll offer my understanding of ‘Word’ here since it hasn’t been touched on. I always thought that ‘Word’ was a was of saying “insert an appropriate word here”. Like: ‘Word to your Mother’ meaning: "Say (hi/yo/good morning/you look lovely today/whatever else is appropriate) to you Mother for me. (Meant as a sign of respect for one’s Mother). It’s not so much the word, but the _way_ it’s being said that is meant to convey the concept. I also thought it came from the song “Word up!” by Cameo, but am unsure what the meaning in the song was. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-used-in-popular-culture-that-you-dont-know-the-definition-of-explanations/184877.md?page=5)