# Sayings you didn't realize were obscene **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 28, 2017, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507 "2017-09-28T12:38:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/1 "2017-09-28T12:38:58Z")
…or at had obscene origins. The classic example, as I only learned in college, was that _SNAFU_ didn’t stand for Situation Normal, All Fouled Up (as the homeside newspapers translated the WWII-era phrase for the folks back home), but Situation Normal, All Fucked Up. Similarly (as Allan Sherman’s book _The Rape of the A.P.E._ informed me)\* FUBAR = Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition JANFU = Joint Army Navy Fuckup, and so on. It was from the Oxford Dictional of Naval Terms that I learned that what is called a _Cut Splice_ was originally a Cunt Splice (named for its shape – “Cut Splice” makes no sense), and that the _Contiline_ of a rope was originally the Cunting, which I can understand. well, recently I learned that the phrase “For the Birds” is a shortened, cleaned up version of its early 20th century original, “Shit for the Birds” , which explains why it carries the sense of “nonsense” or “worthless” that the truncated “For the Birds” doesn’t explain Se here, for instance – [Shit for the birds - Idioms by The Free Dictionary](http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/shit+for+the+birds) Finally (for this entry, at least), I just learned that “feisty” derives, ultimately, from “fart”: > [@](#): > > feisty (adj.)1896, “aggressive, exuberant, touchy,” American English, with -y (2) + feist “small dog,” earlier fice, fist (American English, 1805); short for fysting curre “stinking cur,” attested from 1520s, with present participle of now-obsolete Middle English fysten, fisten “break wind” (mid-15c.), from Proto-Germanic \*fistiz “a fart,” said to be from PIE \*pezd- (see fart), but there are difficulties. > > The 1811 slang dictionary defines fice as “a small windy escape backwards, more obvious to the nose than ears; frequently by old ladies charged on their lap-dogs.” Compare also Danish fise “to blow, to fart,” and obsolete English aske-fise, “fire-tender,” literally “ash-blower” (early 15c.), from an unrecorded Norse source, used in Middle English for a kind of bellows, but originally “a term of reproach among northern nations for an unwarlike fellow who stayed at home in the chimney corner” [OED]. > **[feisty | Etymology of feisty by etymonline](https://www.etymonline.com/word/feisty)** > > "aggressive, exuberant, touchy," American English, with -y (2) + feist "small dog,"… See origin and meaning of feisty. Think about that the next time you want to call someone “feisty”. Any others? \*A book published by the press owned by his friend, Hugh Hefner, Playboy Press. Seems appropriate that this comes up now, with Hefner’s death. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/2 "2017-09-28T13:10:03Z")
Does “Lickety-Split” mean something…dirty? > **[What’s the origin of "lickety-split"?](https://www.straightdope.com/21343296/what-s-the-origin-of-lickety-split)** > > A STAFF REPORT FROM THE STRAIGHT DOPE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/3 "2017-09-28T13:23:42Z")
> [@Enola\_Straight](#): > > Does “Lickety-Split” mean something…dirty? > [What’s the origin of "lickety-split"? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2164/whats-the-origin-of-lickety-split) You’d like to think so, but, as the column by the Perfect Master you quoted makes clear, no. On the other hand, “hoist by his own petard” certainly has obscene roots [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/260/whats-a-petard-as-in-hoist-by-his-own](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/260/whats-a-petard-as-in-hoist-by-his-own) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/4 "2017-09-28T13:47:07Z")
While there’s some debate about the origin of “gyp” (as in swindle) it could be derived from “gypsy,” putting it in the same category as “jew someone down.” I don’t use either one, and call out people who do. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/5 "2017-09-28T13:57:56Z")
I used to call people “buggers” when I was a kid, until my dad explained that it wasn’t for use in polite company. I figured it meant they were people who bugged you. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/6 "2017-09-28T13:59:41Z")
Somewhat related. For a long time as a kid I always hear the first line of the lymeric “there once was a man from Nantuket” FINALLY hearing the damn whole thing was like popping a zit I’d had for like a decade. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/7 "2017-09-28T14:09:26Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Somewhat related. > > For a long time as a kid I always hear the first line of the lymeric “there once was a man from Nantuket” > > FINALLY hearing the damn whole thing was like popping a zit I’d had for like a decade. There are, it turns out, quite a lot of obscene limericks that start out with that line (or one very similar). But, to be fair, there’s a trio of surprisingly good clean ones: > [@](#): > > There once was a man from Nantucket > Who kept all his cash in a bucket. > But his daughter, named Nan, > Ran away with a man > And as for the bucket, Nantucket. > But he followed the pair to Pawtucket, > The man and the girl with the bucket; > And he said to the man, He was welcome to Nan, > But as for the bucket, Pawtucket. > Then the pair followed Pa to Manhasset, > Where he still held the cash as an asset, > But Nan and the man > Stole the money and ran, > And as for the bucket, Manhasset. To be honest, though, I doubt if these would exist were it not for the prior existence of the “dirty” forms. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/8 "2017-09-28T14:12:18Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > . > Finally (for this entry, at least), I just learned that “feisty” derives, ultimately, from “fart”: > > [feisty | Etymology of feisty by etymonline](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=feisty) > > Think about that the next time you want to call someone “feisty”. Likewise, to “futz around” really means to “fart around.” ---
**Author:** ![CrimeThink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90db22/32.png) [@CrimeThink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrimeThink)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/9 "2017-09-28T14:29:43Z")
In elementary school I said “Screw you” to another kid in class just joking around and the teacher disciplined me. I did not know at the time that it related in anyway to fornication. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/10 "2017-09-28T14:32:29Z")
Two of my favorite profanities are “frig” and “bugger”. Most Americans don’t know what they mean, so they think you are using a quaint little euphemism, like “darn” or “heck”. Actually, both words refer to specific sexual acts. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Terrific](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tom_terrific/32/342_2.png) [@Tom\_Terrific](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Terrific)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/11 "2017-09-28T14:45:51Z")
Has anyone ever heard of " tighter than Dick’s hatband?" Think about it for a moment. I used the expression for many years without any thought about its meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/12 "2017-09-28T14:50:16Z")
I guess technically when you say something “sucks” you are saying it “sucks dick” thus saying it’s “gay” and thus equating “gay” with “bad” which was ubiquitous when I was a kid and is now rightly frowned upon but “sucks” still remains. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/13 "2017-09-28T15:07:09Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Two of my favorite profanities are “frig” and “bugger”. Most Americans don’t know what they mean, so they think you are using a quaint little euphemism, like “darn” or “heck”. > > Actually, both words refer to specific sexual acts. “Bugger” I used casually until well into college, when I met some Brits who explained to me its derivation and how it’s a bit more vulgar of a word than it generally is here in the US. “Frig” is just a euphemism for “fuck,” though, isn’t it? Does it also carry a more offensive meaning in the UK? (Truth be told, I’ve only heard Americans use the word – and I myself do – in the form “friggin’” or “frickin’” for “fuckin’.”) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/14 "2017-09-28T15:09:37Z")
I learned the “tiger” version of the “Eeny meeny miney mo” rhyme as a child. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I discovered the unbowlderized original version. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/15 "2017-09-28T15:22:48Z")
I thought “a baby’s arm holding an apple” was just some weird strange thing you could get from life, like a Matador, a Mack truck, an autographed picture of Randy Mantooth and Bob Dylan’s new unlisted phone number. I didn’t know it referred to something obscene-ish. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/16 "2017-09-28T15:23:08Z")
“Putz” has been used on TV for so long, and it’s such a funny-sounding word to English-speakers anyway, that it might be a shock to find out it means “dick”. “Schmuck” means the same thing, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/17 "2017-09-28T15:43:22Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I thought “a baby’s arm holding an apple” was just some weird strange thing you could get from life, like a Matador, a Mack truck, an autographed picture of Randy Mantooth and Bob Dylan’s new unlisted phone number. I didn’t know it referred to something obscene-ish. I had to google that one, having never heard it. I get it now, but it still doesn’t resonate with me. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/18 "2017-09-28T15:56:54Z")
There was a commercial on TV where two little kids are calling each other, “Dorks”. Everything is dirty if you dig deep enough. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/19 "2017-09-28T16:08:02Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I guess technically when you say something “sucks” you are saying it “sucks dick” thus saying it’s “gay” and thus equating “gay” with “bad” which was ubiquitous when I was a kid and is now rightly frowned upon but “sucks” still remains. I dunno. We used to to say that something “sucks raw eggs,” when I was a kid. I don’t know why, and it was probably a euphemism for “sucks dick,” but that was the only version I ever knew, and if I said something “sucks,” it was short for that. It’s just as logical to say that women who sucked dick used to be thought of as sluts, and therefore “sucks” is a form of slut-shaming. No one thinks of it that way in their heads when they say it. No anymore than anyone equates “cool” with being literally “cool-headed,” even though the origin of the term comes from cool people being people who could maintain a disinterested manner while “squares” “lost their cool.” > [@Derleth](#): > > “Putz” has been used on TV for so long, and it’s such a funny-sounding word to English-speakers anyway, that it might be a shock to find out it means “dick”. > > “Schmuck” means the same thing, BTW. Shmuck is actually a very bad word if you are a Yiddish speaker. I knew better than to say it as a child-- I’d get punished if I dared. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507/20 "2017-09-28T16:10:00Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > “Frig” is just a euphemism for “fuck,” though, isn’t it? Does it also carry a more offensive meaning in the UK? (Truth be told, I’ve only heard Americans use the word – and I myself do – in the form “friggin’” or “frickin’” for “fuckin’.”) “Frig” means to use your hand. You can frig yourself (masturbation) or you can frig your partner (giving a hand job). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sayings-you-didnt-realize-were-obscene/797507.md?page=2)