Re: You seem determined to do your laundry in public - what does it mean?
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
>In Brazzilforum Macunaima tells X4D:
>
>"As Jaboo has pointed out, you seem bound and determined to do your
>laundry in public. You thus have no cause for complaint when people
>comment on the state of your sheets."
>
>What does it mean you seem determined to do your laundry in public?
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/washing+dirty+linen+in+public
'air one's dirty linen in public' and 'wash one's dirty linen in
public'
Fig. to discuss private or embarrassing matters in public,
especially when quarreling. (This linen refers to sheets and
tablecloths or other soiled cloth.)
"They are arguing again. Why must they always air their dirty linen
in public? She will talk to anyone about her problems. Why does she
wash her dirty linen in public?"
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
Cheryl P.
> In Brazzilforum Macunaima tells X4D:
>
> "As Jaboo has pointed out, you seem bound and determined to do your
> laundry in public. You thus have no cause for complaint when people
> comment on the state of your sheets."
>
> What does it mean you seem determined to do your laundry in public?
It's a reference to 'washing your dirty laundry in public', which means
that you are showing everyone all the things you are involved in which
are wrong, which you should be ashamed about and which you should hide.
For example, if there is a family argument about an inheritance, it
should be kept within the family. If you tell everyone who will listen
that your brother stole your inheritance, you have placed the dispute,
like dirty laundry, in public view.
And at that point, you have no reason to complain that all your
neighbours think you belong to a family of thieves, because you yourself
have said so in public.
--
Cheryl P.
tony cooper
>In Brazzilforum Macunaima tells X4D:
>
>"As Jaboo has pointed out, you seem bound and determined to do your
>laundry in public. You thus have no cause for complaint when people
>comment on the state of your sheets."
>
>What does it mean you seem determined to do your laundry in public?
It means exposing your personal life to the public. Strangers.
Often we speak of "dirty laundry" in this context. If someone in a
public forum like this newsgroup would write a post about the
difficulties he or she is having with their marriage, it would be
"doing their laundry in public". If the poster mentioned infidelity,
it would be "airing their dirty laundry in public".
There are many variations of how the laundry thing is expressed.
"Doing", "airing", "hanging", etc.
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
mm
If the laundry is still dirty when it is hung on the line to dry, the
problem is likely with the agitation cycle. Have you checked that it
actually does agitate?
What's that? Isn't this alt.home.repair?
--
Posters should say where they live, and for which area
they are asking questions. I was born and then lived in
Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 7 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 26 years
Irwell
>
> If the laundry is still dirty when it is hung on the line to dry, the
> problem is likely with the agitation cycle. Have you checked that it
> actually does agitate?
>
> What's that? Isn't this alt.home.repair?
If the only option is the Riverbank then all
the laundry is done in public.
Cheryl P.
But if you use the 'air' version of the saying, the laundry should be
clean when aired whether it became clean at the riverbank or in a
washing machine.
--
Cheryl P.
tony cooper
wrote:
When you "air" something it can mean that you reveal it. It doesn't
necessarily mean you hang it out to air. You can air an opinion or
air your feelings.
Cheryl P.
True, but the saying specifies laundry.
--
Cheryl P.
tony cooper
wrote:
I think you're missing something, Cheryl. To air one's dirty laundry
means to reveal or expose unpleasant facts. While laundry of the
clothing type is aired by hanging outside, this laundry is
metaphorical.
The bit about riverbanks and agitation cycles was a diversion from the
original question about the metaphorical laundry.
Evan Kirshenbaum
Perhaps I've read more into this than I should, but I've always
assumed that airing the dirty laundry was done *instead of* washing
it. (Or, rather, when washing wasn't possible or practical.) That
is, when, for whatever reason, you couldn't actually wash the clothes
or linens, you could get them more wearable by simply hanging them
outside for a while. Which left your neighbors exposed to the stains
and the smell.
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
HP Laboratories |It is one thing to be mistaken; it is
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |quite another to be willfully
Palo Alto, CA 94304 |ignorant
| Cecil Adams
kirsh...@hpl.hp.com
(650)857-7572
Cheryl P.
something real - clothing or linens, in this case, which would normally
be clean when aired or hung out to dry.
I am interested in the idea of (literally) airing dirty clothing instead
of washing it, as someone else just posted. I hadn't thought of that
practice as a source of the saying, but it makes a kind of sense that in
a period without hot running water and automatic washers, people might
sometimes just try to air dirty clothing long enough to get the worst of
the smells out.
--
Cheryl P.
tony cooper
wrote:
Frankly, it never occurred to me that dirty laundry would be refreshed
by hanging it out to air. I still can't imagine it. The idea that
someone would take unwashed laundry outside to hang it seems
far-fetched to me. I would think they would either wash the items or
go ahead and wear them.
Cheryl P.
People sometimes hang out clothing or bedding that's been stored a long
time and might be a bit musty without washing it first. Of course, it
was washed and dried before being stored, but I can imagine a kind of
gradation...you start by airing basically clean clothes, then you decide
to air something that's not stained but a bit sweaty or maybe with a bit
of a smoky smell, then you start airing things that are out-and-out
dirty with obvious stains and spills - and your neighbours start
gossipping about how you are too lazy to take it to the river and scrub
it on the rocks.
--
Cheryl P.
Frank ess
In my basic training flight there was a fellow who, rather than wash
his soiled underwear, stuffed it under clean clothing in his
footlocker. How long it might have been left to ferment there, who
knows? When the Tactical Instructor discovered it, the fellow had his
dirty laundry aired without his consent or intent. The footlocker flew
out the barracks window, and the airman right after it.
"Airing dirty laundry" is revealing some unpleasant circumstance that
might never have come into view until there were propitious currents.
--
Frank ess
Donna Richoux
> On Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:19:56 -0230, "Cheryl P." <cper...@mun.ca>
> wrote:
>
> >I am interested in the idea of (literally) airing dirty clothing instead
> >of washing it, as someone else just posted. I hadn't thought of that
> >practice as a source of the saying, but it makes a kind of sense that in
> >a period without hot running water and automatic washers, people might
> >sometimes just try to air dirty clothing long enough to get the worst of
> >the smells out.
From Google Books:
1867 - A FEW USEFUL AND PRACTICAL HINTS FOR CAMPS, TO SPORTSMEN,
AND FOR TRAVELLERS GENERALLY.
... Always take off your clothes, socks,
&c, inside out, and so hang them up to air ; the
shirt should be previously rinsed out at the arm-pits
. This is the more necessary in warm climates in
consequence of the damp caused by perspiration. ...
>
> Frankly, it never occurred to me that dirty laundry would be refreshed
> by hanging it out to air. I still can't imagine it. The idea that
> someone would take unwashed laundry outside to hang it seems
> far-fetched to me. I would think they would either wash the items or
> go ahead and wear them.
GooBoo shows a discussion of the phrase in the Literary Gazette of 1826,
attributing it to Napoleon. I see that the Oxford Dictionary of English
Proverbs agrees, with its first citation under "Wash dirty linen in
public, To":
1815 Napoleon /Speech/ [on return from Elba] C'est en famille, ce
n'est pas en publique, qu'on lave son linge sale.
That is, "It is within the family, not in public, that one washes one's
dirty linen/laundry." In the Literary Gazette, someone said plaintively,
"I don't understand you, for I see the women wash linen in public daily
in the Seine." ...
--
Best -- Donna Richoux
CDB
"Linen" can also mean undergarments, although it's more often used in
the plural for that. Unmentionables, like. I suppose this is a
collective singular, like laundry.
>
As for airing the stuff: if you hang it out for a while, the cooters
will starve to death, but people may know some personal things about
you.
Arcadian Rises
> On Tue, 3 Aug 2010 08:50:42 -0700 (PDT), uri <ur...@bezeqint.net>
> wrote:
>
> >In Brazzilforum Macunaima tells X4D:
>
> >"As Jaboo has pointed out, you seem bound and determined to do your
> >laundry in public. You thus have no cause for complaint when people
> >comment on the state of your sheets."
>
> >What does it mean you seem determined to do your laundry in public?
>
> It means exposing your personal life to the public. Strangers.
>
> Often we speak of "dirty laundry" in this context. If someone in a
> public forum like this newsgroup would write a post about the
> difficulties he or she is having with their marriage, it would be
> "doing their laundry in public". If the poster mentioned infidelity,
> it would be "airing their dirty laundry in public".
But if a poster (it's just a hypothetical example) writes meaningful,
but civil and afectionate letters to his or her sister, the publicum
has the right to complain when those letters stop coming with no
explanation.
Arcadian Rises
What if it's a public laundromat?
tony cooper
wrote:
>As for airing the stuff: if you hang it out for a while, the cooters
>will starve to death, but people may know some personal things about
>you.
>
A cooter is a turtle where I live. If there are cooters in my clothes
I certainly would shake them out. Cooties, though, might require
airing.
Peter Moylan
people's dirty linen.
--
Peter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.
tony cooper
Sis loves to hear dirty laundry aired, but only if it isn't hers. She
can get quite testy if you put her peccadillos on the line.
Robert Bannister
I imagine those that think airing one's laundry is bad are the ones who
can't keep their minds off underwear.
--
Rob Bannister
Robert Bannister
I certainly do that with duvets, and it seems to work (to some extent).
--
Rob Bannister
R H Draney
The most common definition of "cooter" at www.urbandictionary.com is
"vagina"....r
--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.
tony cooper
All I can say is that if anyone said anything to me about some woman's
cooter, that I would assume she had a pet turtle.
Peter Moylan
often as I get invitations from turtles.
Cheryl P.
I knew someone who, when at that period in the early teens in which
girls sometimes become extremely conscious and embarrassed about a lot
of things, complained to her mother that she (the mother) shouldn't hang
out underwear on the clothesline - or at least, not HER (the daughter's)
underwear - because, you know, someone might see it. Someone she knew.
As a much older female, I would suspect that a particular 'someone' -
young and male - motivated this sudden access of modesty, lest she be
suspected of having Ideas about Someone who wasn't paying any attention
to her.
But that's perhaps a different way of being unable to keep one's mind of
underwear than you were thinking about.
--
Cheryl P.
CDB
> "CDB" <belle...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
>
>> As for airing the stuff: if you hang it out for a while, the
>> cooters will starve to death, but people may know some personal
>> things about you.
>>
> A cooter is a turtle where I live. If there are cooters in my
> clothes I certainly would shake them out. Cooties, though, might
> require airing.
>
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
<inv...@peter.pmoylan.org.invalid> wrote:
>tony cooper wrote:
>> On 5 Aug 2010 19:44:44 -0700, R H Draney <dado...@spamcop.net> wrote:
>>
>>> tony cooper filted:
>>>> On Thu, 5 Aug 2010 19:11:01 -0400, "CDB" <belle...@sympatico.ca>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> As for airing the stuff: if you hang it out for a while, the cooters
>>>>> will starve to death, but people may know some personal things about
>>>>> you.
>>>>>
>>>> A cooter is a turtle where I live. If there are cooters in my clothes
>>>> I certainly would shake them out. Cooties, though, might require
>>>> airing.
>>> The most common definition of "cooter" at www.urbandictionary.com is
>>> "vagina"....r
>>
>> All I can say is that if anyone said anything to me about some woman's
>> cooter, that I would assume she had a pet turtle.
>>
>These days it hardly matters. I get invitations from women about as
>often as I get invitations from turtles.
In that case you might not mind my passing on the fact that the mention
of vagina and turtle in the same sentence left me with a disturbing
mental image of a turtle head poking out of a vagina.
If I were an artist I might be able to earn lots of money by committing
that image to canvas (or whatever the surface du jour is), but I'm not,
so I won't.
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
Peter Moylan
> Robert Bannister wrote:
>> I imagine those that think airing one's laundry is bad are the ones
>> who can't keep their minds off underwear.
>
> I knew someone who, when at that period in the early teens in which
> girls sometimes become extremely conscious and embarrassed about a lot
> of things, complained to her mother that she (the mother) shouldn't hang
> out underwear on the clothesline - or at least, not HER (the daughter's)
> underwear - because, you know, someone might see it. Someone she knew.
>
> As a much older female, I would suspect that a particular 'someone' -
> young and male - motivated this sudden access of modesty, lest she be
> suspected of having Ideas about Someone who wasn't paying any attention
> to her.
You're dealing with a complicated and somewhat irrational subject. At
various times I have been involved with someone who was relaxed about my
seeing her underwear. At other times I have known people who would have
been horrified if I had mentioned such a topic. At present I have a
semi-relationship with someone who will happily ask me to take her
washing from the line, but who would be deeply shocked if I pulled her
pants down. There is no logic in this area.
R H Draney
>
>In that case you might not mind my passing on the fact that the mention
>of vagina and turtle in the same sentence left me with a disturbing
>mental image of a turtle head poking out of a vagina.
>
>If I were an artist I might be able to earn lots of money by committing
>that image to canvas (or whatever the surface du jour is), but I'm not,
>so I won't.
Mention it to the folks at http://www.tattyworld.net/ and the image might be
realized; then you can safely erase your mental original....r
Adam Funk
> You're dealing with a complicated and somewhat irrational subject. At
> various times I have been involved with someone who was relaxed about my
> seeing her underwear. At other times I have known people who would have
> been horrified if I had mentioned such a topic. At present I have a
> semi-relationship with someone who will happily ask me to take her
> washing from the line, but who would be deeply shocked if I pulled her
> pants down. There is no logic in this area.
Obviously if you pull her pants down sharply without removing the
clothespegs, you could tear or stretch them.
--
The three-martini lunch is the epitome of American efficiency.
Where else can you get an earful, a bellyful and a snootful at
the same time? [Gerald Ford, 1978]
Adam Funk
> In that case you might not mind my passing on the fact that the mention
> of vagina and turtle in the same sentence left me with a disturbing
> mental image of a turtle head poking out of a vagina.
>
> If I were an artist I might be able to earn lots of money by committing
> that image to canvas (or whatever the surface du jour is), but I'm not,
> so I won't.
I suggest you search http://www.theregister.co.uk/ for "extreme porn
law" before trying anything like that.
--
And remember, while you're out there risking your life and limb
through shot and shell, we'll be in be in here thinking what a
sucker you are. [Rufus T. Firefly]
Mike Lyle
...of cootery, no doubt.
Is there a verb? I coot, thou cootest, he/she/it coots, etc...
--
Mike.
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
Yes! (If you are a tortoise.)
OED:
coot, v.1
? Obs.
intr. Of tortoises: To copulate. Hence {sm}cooting vbl. n.
1667 H. STUBBE in Phil. Trans. II. 500 The Tortoises..coot for
fourteen daies together.
Or if you build hay ricks or houses.
coot, v.2
local.
To slope back the upper part of the gable of a house, the end of a
hay-rick, etc., so as to form a 'pavilion' or 'tabernacle' roof.
Hence {sm}cooted, ppl. a., {sm}cooting, vbl. n.
1813 DAVIS Agric. Wilts 258-268 (in Archćol. Rev. Mch. 1888)
Hay-ricks are..sometimes oblong with cooted ends, not gable ends.
1892 Correspt. at Mere, Wilts. A rick or cottage has its ends
'cooted' or 'cooted in', when instead of being carried up
perpendicularly to the ridge, they are so carried up only to the
same height as the side-walls, and then sloped back. Sometimes the
ends are carried perpendicularly to a greater height than the sides,
and then sloped back: this is called half-cooting... Gable-end ricks
are rarely seen here, the general practice being to coot them in.
Robert Bannister
Alas, how quickly young women move from prudery about their underwear to
draping it, dripping wet, all over the bathroom.
--
Rob Bannister
R H Draney
Making "cooter" an agent noun?...
Or might it be a comparative adjective?...this one is coot, that one is cooter,
the other thing is cootest of all....r