Wondering about scrag ends
jbl...@bingsuns.cc.binghamton.edu
I have heard it spoken by natives of England, and I infer that it
means something like "leftovers" or "remnants".
Is this is fact the meaning of the term? Am I spelling it correctly?
Does the term have any negative connotations of which I should be
aware? Is it considered vulgar or derogatory?
I would appreciate any help with this.
jb
Brian {Hamilton Kelly}
jbl...@bingsuns.cc.binghamton.edu "
" writes:
> Can anyone enlighten me in regard to the term "scrag ends"?
The term is scrag end, not ends. In fact, correctly, it's just scrag.
> I have heard it spoken by natives of England, and I infer that it
> means something like "leftovers" or "remnants".
Not really; the scrag is a joint of meat. These days, when seemingly no
sheep ever grows up, it would be "scrag of lamb". But (when I wurr a lad) it
was "scrag end of mutton". It's the most anterior joint available from a
sheep, comprising (mostly) the cervical vertebrae. As such, it's "ahead" of
the middle neck and the best end of neck (the scrag end being at the other
end of the neck, see?); the "best end" really looks to a layman more like the
back of the animal, just over the shoulder. Being so bony, and also quite
fatty, it's not the most popular joint, and as such, tends to be very cheap;
thus it tends to be eaten more by those with less disposable income, in the
same manner as belly of pork.
> Is this is fact the meaning of the term? Am I spelling it correctly?
> Does the term have any negative connotations of which I should be
> aware? Is it considered vulgar or derogatory?
I wouldn't say exactly the latter, no. Chambers says: "scrag: n. a sheep's
or (slang) human neck; the bony part of the neck; a lean person or animal.
v.t. to hang; to throttle; to wring the neck of; to tackle by the neck;"
> I would appreciate any help with this.
You're welcome.
--
Brian {Hamilton Kelly} b...@dsl.co.uk
Dragonhill Systems Ltd Faringdon (+44 1367) 242363 (Fax & Answerphone)
Bramble Passage, 20 Coxwell Street, FARINGDON, Oxon, SN7 7HA, United Kingdom
Mark Odegard
<10012...@CompuServe.COM> writes:
>
>Neck is spot on. It's only used to refer to an ovine for some
>reason. 'Scraggy' means thin, mean, bony. The meat business is a
>repository of some very old English usages - for example the word
>'cod' is still used to describe the pubic fat of the bovine.
>
"Cod" can refer to bag or scrotum, thus "codpiece." I have never had
occasion to hear of the pubic fat of bovines, but the term is perfectly
consistent.
MW10C has a full definition of scrag: scrawny, lean; the lean end of the
neck of a sheep; to hang or garrote.
Stuart Burnfield
2. the lean end of a neck of veal or mutton
3. (Informal) the neck of a human being
vb. scragging, scragged.
4. (tr.) to wring the neck of
[C16: ? variant of CRAG]
from New Collins Concise 1982 (slightly paraphrased).
I think the second definition is the one you have heard. It does sound
slightly negative. If used to describe a person it would be derogatory.
'fag end' has more of the flavour of 'leftovers' or 'remnants'. A fag end
(literally a cigarette butt) can be used in a negative way to describe
people:
"...and all you get is pictures of Lord and Lady Muck
who come from lovely people with a hard line in hypocrisy
there are ashtrays of emotion
with the fag ends of the aristocracy..."
Elvis Costello 'Pills and Soap"
One final meaning of 'scrag': when I was young, 'scragging' meant stripping
the clothes from one your friends and throwing them (the clothes, not the
boy) on to a nearby roof. This usually happened at football training when
the coach was late turning up.
Hope this helps
--
Stuart Burnfield What the famous philosophers said about
Voice: +61 9 328 8288 Stuart Burnfield
PO Box 192 Leederville "...nasty, brutish and short"
Western Australia 6903 Hobbes "Leviathan"