Slang in "Catcher In The Rye"
sidra mahmood
language, and specifically the way that slang has changed in the last 50
years . Below are a list of words I have taken from a web page on 'The
Catcher in the Rye' and I would like to know by any American readers if any
of these words are still used today and if so in what context. Any direct
response would be greatly appreciated via e-mail as i may not be able to
visit this NG again for a little while. Thankyou for your help.
Sidra.
The words and their meanings as in 1951:
ass: 1. to give someone a pain in the ass= to annoy someone 2. He doesn't
know his ass from his
elbow= He doesn't know a thing.
bang: get a bang from doing something=enjoy doing something
be for birds: be worth nothing
buddy(roo): friend
chew the fat: to chat
corny: old, dull
crazy about: enthusiastic about
crap: senseless, stupid talk. Cut the crap!= Shut up!
crumby: lousy
dizzy: senseless, funny
dopey: a stupid person
dough: money
faggy: stupid
fart: to have flatulence
flitty: homosexual
for crying out loud: hell, damn
get to the first base: to make progress (in a relationship)
get wise: Are you getting wise with me?= Are you making fun of me?
give time: to give time to someone= to have sexual intercourse with someone
guts: to have guts to do something= to have the courage to do something
half nelson: to get someone in a ~: to hit someone
have guts to do something: to have the courage to do something
Holy Joe: a priest, a people working for the church
horny: to feel horny= to be in a mood for sexual activity
horse around: to fool arond
hot: hot at something= good at something
hot-shot: an important person
laugh one's ass off: to laugh excessively
mess: You are a mess=You are hopeless.
mushy: oversweet
oiled: drunken
oodles: oodles of something= lots of something
nosy: curious
pass out: to faint
puke: to throw up
scraggy-looking: dirty-looking
scrawny: dull, colourless
screw up: to do something wrong: I screwed up the whole thing.
shoot the breeze: to chat with someone
show-off: a posh person, who wants to draw attention to himself
slob: a distasteful person
snow: heroin
sock : to sock someone in the jaw=to hit someone
stink up: to do something completely wrong
swanky: elegant, posh
tail t'night: a sexual relationship of one night
take a leak: to urinate
tiffed: drunken
yellow: a coward
R Fontana
> Hi my name is Sidra and I am a college student in England studying English
> language, and specifically the way that slang has changed in the last 50
> years . Below are a list of words I have taken from a web page on 'The
> Catcher in the Rye' and I would like to know by any American readers
Hello!
> if any
> of these words are still used today and if so in what context. Any direct
> response would be greatly appreciated via e-mail as i may not be able to
> visit this NG again for a little while. Thankyou for your help.
> Sidra.
>
> The words and their meanings as in 1951:
>
> ass: 1. to give someone a pain in the ass= to annoy someone 2. He doesn't
> know his ass from his
> elbow= He doesn't know a thing.
Still very current.
> bang: get a bang from doing something=enjoy doing something
I don't think this is very current.
> be for birds: be worth nothing
There's an expression "for *the* birds". But I don't think it's too
common anymore.
> buddy(roo): friend
"Buddy" is still common, though it's receding to inactive vocabulary
(other than in special usages, such as "drinking buddy", irono-vocative
"buddy", etc.). The use of playful diminutive suffixes such as -roo still
occurs but it can seem rather corny today (cf. the Flanders character from
_The Simpsons_, who uses suffixes like -sky and -arooni). Someone
recently addressed me as "buckeroo" if I remember correctly.
> chew the fat: to chat
Still fairly current.
> corny: old, dull
I used it above. But I don't think that's a correct definition. "Corny"
is more like "old-fashioned, out of date in a ridiculously silly way".
> crazy about: enthusiastic about
Still very current.
> crap: senseless, stupid talk. Cut the crap!= Shut up!
Still very current.
> crumby: lousy
Still fairly current. I suspect most who use it don't think about its
historical connections with "crumb". (I think it would most often be
spelled "crummy".)
> dizzy: senseless, funny
This sense doesn't seem to be so current anymore, assuming it ever was.
There are other uses of dizzy. It can mean "scatterbrained and
characterized by poor reasoning skills", for example.
> dopey: a stupid person
I'm not sure that's correct. A "dope" can still mean a stupid person;
"dopey" is still an adjective meaning "dumb".
> dough: money
Still current, but I suspect it has retreated to inactive vocabulary for
most.
> faggy: stupid
This would most often appear more specifically as a usually derogatory
adjective meaning "having characteristics of male homosexuals". Still
current.
> fart: to have flatulence
Still current.
> flitty: homosexual
This one is not current. I remember when we read _Catcher_ in 9th grade
(1983/1984) this was one word that we used to use a lot for fun because it
was so unfamiliar and old-fashioned.
> for crying out loud: hell, damn
Still current, though possibly in inactive vocabulary. It's an
interjection (it doesn't mean "noun hell" or "verb damn", that is).
> get to the first base: to make progress (in a relationship)
Still current. It more specifically means to make the first degree of
significant progress in a sexual relationship (generally one involving
adolescents), but I won't get into an argument about what that is. (Oh,
okay, I think first base is supposed to refer to what, when I was an
adolescent, was called "French kissing" or "kissing passionately", isn't
it?)
> get wise: Are you getting wise with me?= Are you making fun of me?
I'm not sure that's the best definition. No longer current, but it would
be understood (e.g. through exposure to old cultural materials). Some
related expressions involving "wise" might be a bit more current.
> give time: to give time to someone= to have sexual intercourse with someone
No longer current. This was another one, like "flit", that we had fun
with in ninth grade because it was so archaic-sounding.
> guts: to have guts to do something= to have the courage to do something
Still extremely current.
> half nelson: to get someone in a ~: to hit someone
Where are you getting these definitions from? I thought a half nelson
referred to a sort of wrestling move.
> Holy Joe: a priest, a people working for the church
Not current, but understandable.
> horny: to feel horny= to be in a mood for sexual activity
Still extremely current.
> horse around: to fool arond
Still very current.
> hot: hot at something= good at something
I don't think it's used quite in that way so much anymore, but "hot" is
still very commonly used as a slang word conveying some shade of
"admirably good".
> hot-shot: an important person
Still very current.
> laugh one's ass off: to laugh excessively
Still extremely current; I believe one of the more common online
initialisms incorporates this.
> mess: You are a mess=You are hopeless.
Still extremely current, but note that it suggests "in an unadmirable
state".
> mushy: oversweet
Still very current.
> oiled: drunken
I am unfamiliar with this one. I suspect it is no longer current.
> oodles: oodles of something= lots of something
Still very current.
> nosy: curious
Still extremely current.
> pass out: to faint
Still extremely current, and there is little sense in calling this
"slang".
> puke: to throw up
Still extremely current. Isn't it also current in the UK?
> scraggy-looking: dirty-looking
Still reasonably current, or at least understandable. I might expect
"scraggly" instead or too.
> scrawny: dull, colourless
"Scrawny" means "very thin [used of a person] in an unflattering way". I
don't know if it really had the other meaning that you indicate.
> screw up: to do something wrong: I screwed up the whole thing.
Still extremely current.
> shoot the breeze: to chat with someone
Still reasonably current, though perhaps retreating into inactive
vocabulary for many.
> show-off: a posh person, who wants to draw attention to himself
Still very current, but it does not mean a "posh" person. There's no
connection between wanting to boast and being "posh".
> slob: a distasteful person
Still extremely current, but it suggests more specifically an unkempt,
slovenly sort of person.
> snow: heroin
I don't think this is current. "Snow" has for a long time been a slang
word for "cocaine". Are you actually finding these meanings in a
dictionary?
> sock : to sock someone in the jaw=to hit someone
Still current.
> stink up: to do something completely wrong
There are certainly many current figurative uses of "stink" which suggest
"poor performance", but that specific use of "stink up" is not familiar to
me.
> swanky: elegant, posh
Still very current.
> tail t'night: a sexual relationship of one night
Not current. You're saying this was a two-word noun? "Tail" is still
current and "tonight" (with the first vowel a schwa) is still current.
> take a leak: to urinate
Still extremely current.
> tiffed: drunken
I am not familiar with this.
> yellow: a coward
Still very much understood, but I think it had retreated into noncurrency.
Evan Kirshenbaum
A bunch of answers I agree with.
> On Tue, 13 Feb 2001, sidra mahmood wrote:
>
> > get wise: Are you getting wise with me?= Are you making fun of me?
>
> I'm not sure that's the best definition. No longer current, but it
> would be understood (e.g. through exposure to old cultural
> materials). Some related expressions involving "wise" might be a
> bit more current.
Specifically, calling someone a "wise guy" has that meaning. There's
a related expression, "don't you get smart with me!" still addressed
by adults to children, but it doesn't mean "make fun of" but rather
something like "presume to speak that way".
> > half nelson: to get someone in a ~: to hit someone
>
> Where are you getting these definitions from? I thought a half
> nelson referred to a sort of wrestling move.
Specifically "a wrestling hold in which one arm is thrust under the
corresponding arm of an opponent and the hand placed on the back of
the opponent's neck". If both arms are used, it's a "full nelson".
> > stink up: to do something completely wrong
>
> There are certainly many current figurative uses of "stink" which
> suggest "poor performance", but that specific use of "stink up" is
> not familiar to me.
The exagerated extent of "stink" can be "stink up the place/joint".
"Stink up" by itself wouldn't be used.
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
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1501 Page Mill Road, Building 1U |focused.
Palo Alto, CA 94304 | Keith Moore
Lars Eighner
the lovely and talented sidra mahmood
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
sm> ass: 1. to give someone a pain in the ass= to annoy someone 2. He
sm> doesn't know his ass from his elbow= He doesn't know a thing.
also, ass = boorish or stupid person. All still common.
sm> bang: get a bang from doing something=enjoy doing something
Also "get a bang out of <something>". Still fairly common,
means the same as "get a kick (out of) <something>"
sm> be for birds: be worth nothing
sm> buddy(roo): friend
Buddyroo was never common. Buddy still is. Probably from
buckaroo (cowboy) -aroo or -roo could be added to just about
any word, suggesting "one who is or does <something>" or perhaps
just for the sound.
sm> chew the fat: to chat
Very common expression, not especially "hip"
sm> corny: old, dull
Usually, overly sentimental.
sm> crazy about: enthusiastic about
Common. If crazy about <a person> = in love with, infatuated.
sm> crap: senseless, stupid talk. Cut the crap!= Shut up!
Crap is a mild word for "shit." Crap often means disingenuous,
misleading, or deliberately obtuse talk (bureaucratic crap). "Cut the
crap" does not mean "Shut up!" so much as it means "Don't avoid the
real subject," "Be sincere."
sm> crumby: lousy
Usually "crummy" or "crummie" means inferior (crummy product) or
unsatisfactory (crummy attitude).
sm> dizzy: senseless, funny
Confused, silly (dizzy blonde)
sm> dopey: a stupid person
A dope is a stupid person; dopey means stupid as if under the influence
of drugs.
sm> dough: money
Yes.
sm> faggy: stupid
Now, yes, in the 50s this would have meant: effeminate, homosexual.
sm> fart: to have flatulence
Yes, verb: pass gas; noun: the gas itself; fart (noun for a person):
silly, pretentious, or foolish person.
sm> flitty: homosexual
Yes, probably related to exaggerated gestures with the hands - hands
moving like butterfly wings.
sm> for crying out loud: hell, damn
This is a minced oath - probably "for Christ's sake" - an expression
of exasperation.
sm> get to the first base: to make progress (in a
sm> relationship)
This baseball metaphor means to make progress in a sexual
relationship. Get to first base: hug and kiss; second-base: play with
the breasts; third-base: touch the genitals with the hands; score =
get to home plate = home run: have sex with.
sm> get wise: Are you getting wise with me?= Are you
sm> making fun of me?
Yes. Being sarcastic, being impudent.
sm> give time: to give time to someone= to have
sm> sexual intercourse with someone
This is not clear without context. "Make time with" is to have
sexual intercourse (or play sexually). "To give time to," however
usually means merely to pay attention to or to spend time with someone.
sm> guts: to have guts to do
sm> something= to have the courage to do something
yes.
sm> half nelson: to get
sm> someone in a ~ : to hit someone
I seem to have got lost in the word wrapping here. A half-nelson
is a wrestling hold, to have someone in a half-nelson is supposedly
to render him harmless, to restrain him. It does not necessarily mean
to strike him.
sm> have guts to do something: to have
sm> the courage to do something
yes.
sm> Holy Joe: a priest, a people working for the church
(that should be "a person working for the church"). I'm not
familiar with this one. You may be right, but it may mean merely
a self-righteous and sanctimonious person.
sm> horny: to feel horny= to be in a mood for sexual
sm> activity
yes.
sm> horse around: to fool arond
yes. May mean wrestling, mock fighting, as between boys who are
really friends - may also mean the intellectual equivalent.
sm> hot: hot at something= good at something
yes, depending upon context. Hot may mean sexually aroused or
angry. "Hot at (verb)" may mean good at it, or just very busy
with it.
sm> hot-shot: an important person
Usually "hot-shot" means an expert or someone who is especially
good at something - although often it is used to refer to someone
who only believes himself to be an expert or who is falsely believed
to be an expert. ("Hot shot from the central office" may mean a
boss who is supposed to be knowledgeable but isn't or it may mean
someone who really knows what he is doing - you have to determine
the attitude of the speaker from context.)
sm> laugh one's ass off: to laugh excessively
Yes, LMAO (laughing my ass off) is still common in internet abbreviations.
sm> mess: You are a mess=You are hopeless.
Yes.
sm> mushy: oversweet
Especially romantic.
sm> oiled: drunken
Yes.
sm> oodles: oodles of something= lots of something
Yes.
sm> nosy: curious
Excessively curious about other people's activities.
sm> pass out: to faint
yes.
sm> puke: to throw up
yes
sm> scraggy-looking: dirty-looking
yes - and ragged.
sm> scrawny: dull, colourless
usually means skinny, weak.
sm> screw up:
sm> to do something wrong: I screwed up the whole thing.
yes.
sm> shoot the
sm> breeze: to chat with someone
yes.
sm> show-off: a posh person, who wants to
sm> draw attention to himself
A show-off is a person who wishes to draw attention to himself.
Posh, however, means luxurious and comfortable or upper-class
(posh accent). People are seldom described as posh. You may want
posh surroundings for the comfort - and that is not showy. But some
people want posh things to show them off.
sm> slob: a distasteful person
Unkempt, slovenly. A person careless about his appearance and
untidy in his surroundings, possibly fat (why does one so seldom
hear about skinny slobs?)
sm>snow: heroin
Now, cocaine. It may have been heroin in the 50s.
sm> sock : to sock someone in the jaw=to hit someone
yes.
sm> stink up: to do something completely wrong
yes, and obviously so, as to tell a bad joke loudly.
sm> swanky: elegant, posh
yes
sm> tail t'night: a
sm> sexual relationship of one night
a good guess, but I've never heard this.
sm> take a leak: to urinate
yes
sm> tiffed: drunken
maybe. I've never heard it, but it seems to me it should mean
slightly angry (= put out)
sm> yellow: a coward
cowardly.
--
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R Fontana
> In our last episode, <96b7j9$kd5hd$1...@ID-20152.news.dfncis.de>,
> the lovely and talented sidra mahmood
> broadcast on alt.usage.english:
> sm> give time: to give time to someone= to have
> sm> sexual intercourse with someone
>
> This is not clear without context. "Make time with" is to have
> sexual intercourse (or play sexually). "To give time to," however
> usually means merely to pay attention to or to spend time with someone.
In _The Catcher in the Rye_ narrator Holden Caulfield regularly uses "give
[her] the time" to mean "have sexual intercourse with" (with the agent
necessarily being male). Do we have any external evidence that this was
*ever* current slang? Anyone who was an adolescent boy in, say, the late
1940s ever use it?
I've assumed that "time" here might be related to, maybe even short
for, "the time of your life".
Spehro Pefhany
> I've assumed that "time" here might be related to, maybe even short
> for, "the time of your life".
I don't date back that far, but one explanation might be the old quip
that people sometimes made when asked what time it was:
Q: "Do you have the time"
A: "If you have the inclination", "If you have the money",
(or other similar suggestive remarks)
Best regards,
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Alex Chernavsky
> In _The Catcher in the Rye_ narrator Holden Caulfield regularly
> uses "give [her] the time" to mean "have sexual intercourse with"
> (with the agent necessarily being male). Do we have any external
> evidence that this was *ever* current slang?
Oh Dr. Aman, paging Dr. Aman.
--
Alex Chernavsky
al...@astrocyte-design.com
Lars Eighner
<Pine.GSO.4.10.101021...@aloha.cc.columbia.edu>,
the lovely and talented R Fontana
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
RF> In _The Catcher in the Rye_ narrator Holden Caulfield regularly
RF> uses "give [her] the time" to mean "have sexual intercourse with"
RF> (with the agent necessarily being male).
I must have got this when I read it years (and years) ago, and I think
I would with the indirect object (sans "to"), and this near many
expressions: make time with, the opposite of "not give [him/her] the
time (of day)," etc., but it isn't just quite right to my ear. Of
course Holden is a New Yorker and a preppie, which puts him quite out
of my range if only a little before my time, and he is an adolescent,
not to mention unbalanced, which means neologisms and confused terms
might be expected.
RF> Do we have any external
RF> evidence that this was *ever* current slang? Anyone who was an
RF> adolescent boy in, say, the late 1940s ever use it?
Not a clue.
RF> I've assumed that "time" here might be related to, maybe even
RF> short for, "the time of your life".
Did I ever mention having found a New Yorker short story by Hortense
<missing name> which seems to me to have been the inspiration of
Catcher in the Rye? It involves a suicide by a young man who leaps
into an air shaft - evidently a result of homosexual panic or homosexual
romantic reversal, nothing is very explicit.
--
Lars Eighner eig...@io.com http://www.io.com/~eighner/
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Alex Chernavsky
> Did I ever mention having found a New Yorker short story by
> Hortense <missing name> which seems to me to have been the
> inspiration of Catcher in the Rye? It involves a suicide by a young
> man who leaps into an air shaft - evidently a result of homosexual
> panic or homosexual romantic reversal, nothing is very explicit.
Could you please elaborate? _Catcher in the Rye_ is my favorite book, and
I'd certainly like to know about this story. Thanks.
--
Alex Chernavsky
al...@astrocyte-design.com
Tom Deveson
>Of
>course Holden is a New Yorker and a preppie, which puts him quite out
>of my range if only a little before my time, and he is an adolescent,
>not to mention unbalanced, which means neologisms and confused terms
>might be expected.
There's some evidence that Holden is actually a bit older than he's
usually thought to be.
i) Bits of *The Catcher in the Rye* appeared first in 1945, as a short
story in *Colliers*, more in 1946 in *The New Yorker*.
ii) An early Salinger story, *This Sandwich has No Mayonnaise*, appeared
in *Esquire* in October 1945. In this story, Holden is already dead or
missing-in-action at nineteen. The story takes place after the end of
*TCITR* and in it Holden's brother remembers things that happened before
*TCITR*. Salinger developed his family sagas like this (cf the Glass
family/menagerie) with flashbacks and references to lives lived outside
the stories in which the characters actually appear.
iii) Salinger was writing chapters of a Holden Caulfield novel in early
1944, during the build-up to D-Day. There's another story from around
this time, *Last Day of the Last Furlough*, in which the hero Gladwaller
has a close friend called Caulfield, whose wild kid brother Holden has
been killed in action.
Re-reading *TCITR* as if Holden died during WW2 is strangely moving. Is
it chronologically consistent to do so?
Tom
--
Tom Deveson
Lars Eighner
the lovely and talented Alex Chernavsky
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
AC> Lars Eighner wrote, in part:
>> Did I ever mention having found a New Yorker short story by
>> Hortense <missing name> which seems to me to have been the
>> inspiration of Catcher in the Rye? It involves a suicide by a
>> young man who leaps into an air shaft - evidently a result of
>> homosexual panic or homosexual romantic reversal, nothing is very
>> explicit.
AC> Could you please elaborate? _Catcher in the Rye_ is my favorite
AC> book, and I'd certainly like to know about this story. Thanks.
I wish I could elaborate, but it was a long time ago that I noted this
in passing. I think the author was Hortense Calisher, and I believe
the story is collected in _Absence of Angels_ (maybe) - as well as a
_New Yorker_ anthology (more likely). It may not, in fact, be
possible to prove which story (hers or Salinger's) was first.
However, there is a remarkable comparison between the work of these
writers that is yet to be written.
(It may be true that I have forgot more of this stuff than most
people will ever know, but it is cold comfort since I *have* forgot
it.)
--
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John Varela
> Anyone who was an adolescent boy in, say, the late
> 1940s ever use it?
No. (I was 15 in 1950.)
--
John Varela
Greeny
> years . Below are a list of words I have taken from a web page on 'The
> Catcher in the Rye' and I would like to know by any American readers if
any
> of these words are still used today
I wonder if there is anywhere more useful for her to go (usenet; www) for
help here.
Suggestions:
jjmend...@gmail.com
Horace LaBadie
As they didn't have touchscreen phones and computers, nor bank and
credit cards with magnetic strips or embedded chips, go with the
traditional meaning of swipe, to steal.
![Peter Duncanson [BrE]'s profile photo](http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a-/ALV-UjU1GGYFBCZgBCNB-pRgkosMu-ej0qpnECw3jc8uGYOTiF8a=s40-c)
Peter Duncanson [BrE]
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
Jerry Friedman
...
> yo im trynna figure out what does the slang term swipe mean in catcher in the rye
To me it suggests picking up something that's easily accessible, not
breaking into anything or using any violence.
--
Jerry Friedman
Paul Wolff
posted:
of reasoning.
--
Paul
Richard Yates
Peter Moylan
> On Tue, 19 Jun 2018, "Peter Duncanson [BrE]"
> <ma...@peterduncanson.net> posted:
>> On Tue, 19 Jun 2018 13:11:53 -0700 (PDT), jjmend...@gmail.com
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On Tuesday, February 13, 2001 at 3:55:50 AM UTC-8, sidra mahmood
>>> wrote:
>>>> Hi my name is Sidra and I am a college student in England
>>>> studying English language, and specifically the way that slang
>>>> has changed in the last 50 years . Below are a list of words I
>>>> have taken from a web page on 'The Catcher in the Rye'
>>> yo im trynna figure out what does the slang term swipe mean in
>>> catcher in the rye
>>
>> One meaning of swipe is to steal.
given, but that's certainly one possibility. Another is that it's an
abbreviation of "asswipe".
> What does "yo im trynna" mean? Extra marks will be awarded for
> cogency of reasoning.
--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Peter T. Daniels
> On 20/06/18 08:07, Paul Wolff wrote:
> > On Tue, 19 Jun 2018, "Peter Duncanson [BrE]"
> > <ma...@peterduncanson.net> posted:
> >> On Tue, 19 Jun 2018 13:11:53 -0700 (PDT), jjmend...@gmail.com
> >> wrote:
[but not enough]
> >>> yo im trynna figure out what does the slang term swipe mean in
> >>> catcher in the rye
> >> One meaning of swipe is to steal.
>
> Nobody's going to search through the entire book when no context has been
> given, but that's certainly one possibility. Another is that it's an
> abbreviation of "asswipe".
> > What does "yo im trynna" mean? Extra marks will be awarded for
> > cogency of reasoning.
>
> Google Translate thinks it's Hausa for "I'm sorry".
Compare "gonna."
Paul Wolff
"Hey". Is it ebonic(s)?
--
Paul
Peter Duncanson [BrE]
A. int.
1. An exclamation used to attract attention, to express warning,
surprise, etc., or to incite or encourage action; hey! Later
(colloq. (frequently in African-American usage)) used as a greeting
or in response to a greeting.
a1475 ...
a1500 (?a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. ii. 12 Io furth,
Greynhorne! and war oute, Gryme!
....
2. slang (orig. in African-American usage). In weakened use,
following or punctuating an utterance for emphasis or as a general
conversational filler.
?1987 ‘DJ Jazzy Jeff’ & ‘The Fresh Prince’ Girls ain't Nothing but
Trouble (transcribed from music video) But enough about me, yo,
let's talk about you.
1991 D. Simon Homicide (1993) 117 Somebody 'round here been
doin' some talking, yo.
....
Richard Yates
Tony Cooper
in "Yo, Dude". It's often a one-word starter to any line of
conversation among young people as "Hey!" is to some.
There's no "meaning" involved other than as an attention-getter.
Dunno if it started as a black word, but it's certainly been adopted
by all young people. When I go to my grandson's baseball or football
games, I hear it used frequently by any and all of the younger set.
I was surprised to see it claimed as used in "Catcher in the Rye". I
didn't think it had been used that far back. I thought it was more
recent. If it was in use in 1951 by young people, it wasn't in my
hearing/seeing.
However, it has been around for quite some time by US soldiers. "Yo!"
means "Present" in roll call.
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/40408/whats-the-origin-of-yo
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
Peter T. Daniels
OE "Hwaet!"
Jerry Friedman
"Rocky: I just want to say hi to my girlfriend, OK? Yo, Adrian! It's me,
Rocky."
I don't think Mr. Balboa was a fan of hip-hop, at least at the time.
--
Jerry Friedman
Peter Moylan
> On Wednesday, June 20, 2018 at 1:22:52 AM UTC-4, Peter Moylan wrote:
>> On 20/06/18 08:07, Paul Wolff wrote:
>>> On Tue, 19 Jun 2018, "Peter Duncanson [BrE]"
>>> <ma...@peterduncanson.net> posted:
>>>> On Tue, 19 Jun 2018 13:11:53 -0700 (PDT),
>>>> jjmend...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>> [Snip many irrelevant lines]
> [but not enough]
>
>>>>> yo im trynna figure out what does the slang term swipe mean
>>>>> in catcher in the rye
>>>> One meaning of swipe is to steal.
>>
>> Nobody's going to search through the entire book when no context
>> has been given, but that's certainly one possibility. Another is
>> that it's an abbreviation of "asswipe".
>
> Is that an Australianism?
>>> What does "yo im trynna" mean? Extra marks will be awarded for
>>> cogency of reasoning.
>>
>> Google Translate thinks it's Hausa for "I'm sorry".
>
> English-speakers, though, know that it means "Hey, I'm trying to."
> Compare "gonna."
marinero". In AusE "trinna" suggests nothing at all.
CDB
> Paul Wolff <boun...@thiswontwork.wolff.co.uk> wrote
>>>> [Snip many irrelevant lines]
>>> [but not enough]
>>>>>>> yo im trynna figure out what does the slang term swipe
>>>>>>> mean in catcher in the rye
>>>>>> One meaning of swipe is to steal.
>>>> Nobody's going to search through the entire book when no
>>>> context has been given, but that's certainly one possibility.
>>>> Another is that it's an abbreviation of "asswipe".
>>> Is that an Australianism?
>>>>> What does "yo im trynna" mean? Extra marks will be awarded
>>>>> for cogency of reasoning.
>>>> Google Translate thinks it's Hausa for "I'm sorry".
>>> English-speakers, though, know that it means "Hey, I'm trying
>>> to." Compare "gonna."
>> I certainly don't know the meaning of "yo". "You" seems more likely
>> than "Hey". Is it ebonic(s)?
> The OED has for "yo":
>
> A. int. 1. An exclamation used to attract attention, to express
> warning, surprise, etc., or to incite or encourage action; hey!
> Later (colloq. (frequently in African-American usage)) used as a
> greeting or in response to a greeting.
> a1475 ... a1500 (?a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. ii. 12 Io
> furth, Greynhorne! and war oute, Gryme!
started with [j], like the common Middle-English "yode", "went" (from OE
"eode"). Yes, yes, perhaps; G'Boo indicates the phrases are shouted to
the two named oxen from behind the plough.
1994?
> .... 2. slang (orig. in African-American usage). In weakened use,
> following or punctuating an utterance for emphasis or as a general
> conversational filler. ?1987 ‘DJ Jazzy Jeff’ & ‘The Fresh Prince’
> Girls ain't Nothing but Trouble (transcribed from music video) But
> enough about me, yo, let's talk about you. 1991 D. Simon Homicide
> (1993) 117 Somebody 'round here been doin' some talking, yo. ....
name in a roll-call.
musika
> On Wed, 20 Jun 2018 14:11:56 +0100, Paul Wolff
> <boun...@thiswontwork.wolff.co.uk> wrote:
>> On Wed, 20 Jun 2018, Peter T. Daniels <gram...@verizon.net>
>> posted:
>>> to." Compare "gonna."
>>
>> I certainly don't know the meaning of "yo". "You" seems more likely
>> than "Hey". Is it ebonic(s)?
>
> Hip-hop.
>
The interjection yo was first used in Middle English.[3][4] In addition
to yo, it was also sometimes written io.[5]
Though the term may have been in use in the 16th century, its current
popularity stems from its use in Philadelphia's Italian American
population in the twentieth century, which spread to other ethnic groups
in the city, notably among the African Americans.[6]
From the late twentieth century it frequently appeared in hip hop music
and became associated with African American Vernacular English, as seen
in the title Yo! MTV Raps, a popular American television hip-hop music
program in the 1980s.
--
Ray
UK
Peter T. Daniels
> On 20/06/18 22:02, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> > On Wednesday, June 20, 2018 at 1:22:52 AM UTC-4, Peter Moylan wrote:
> >> On 20/06/18 08:07, Paul Wolff wrote:
> >>> On Tue, 19 Jun 2018, "Peter Duncanson [BrE]"
> >>> <ma...@peterduncanson.net> posted:
> >>>> On Tue, 19 Jun 2018 13:11:53 -0700 (PDT),
> >>>> jjmend...@gmail.com wrote:
> >> [Snip many irrelevant lines]
> > [but not enough]
> >>>>> yo im trynna figure out what does the slang term swipe mean
> >>>>> in catcher in the rye
> >>>> One meaning of swipe is to steal.
> >> Nobody's going to search through the entire book when no context
> >> has been given, but that's certainly one possibility. Another is
> >> that it's an abbreviation of "asswipe".
> > Is that an Australianism?
>
> Not at all. The Australian form is arsewipe.
> >>> What does "yo im trynna" mean? Extra marks will be awarded for
> >>> cogency of reasoning.
> >>
> >> Google Translate thinks it's Hausa for "I'm sorry".
> >
> > English-speakers, though, know that it means "Hey, I'm trying to."
> > Compare "gonna."
>
> Some English speakers. For me, the "yo" immediately suggests "yo no soy
> marinero". In AusE "trinna" suggests nothing at all.
That's why they spelled it <trynna>.
Colonel Edmund J. Burke
> In article <2338a5b3-d790-4457...@googlegroups.com>,
> jjmend...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>> On Tuesday, February 13, 2001 at 3:55:50 AM UTC-8, sidra mahmood wrote:
>>> Hi my name is Sidra and I am a college student in England studying English
>>> language, and specifically the way that slang has changed in the last 50
>>> years . Below are a list of words I have taken from a web page on 'The
>>> Catcher in the Rye' and I would like to know by any American readers if any
>>> of these words are still used today and if so in what context. Any direct
>>> response would be greatly appreciated via e-mail as i may not be able to
>>> visit this NG again for a little while. Thankyou for your help.
>>> Sidra.
I'd like to run my tongue all over yer body.
Richard Yates
sentence ("yo im trynna") where it was first used here, it sounds
hip-hop, later than the Italian-American version. (And, of course,
even there it was not a quotation but an imitation.)
jew pedophile Ron Jacobson (jew pedophile Baruch 'Barry' Shein's jew aliash)
I doubt she'd WANT a dirty moulie tongue all over her body.
- -
" I don't even have the heart to tell him I've never infested
Arizona."
- Klaun Shittinb'ricks (1940 - ), acknowledging that he lied
from the very beginning, A jew scam, as expected
" My real name's McGill. The jew thing I just do for the homeboys.
They all want a pipe hitting member of the tribe, so to speak."
- Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk). "Better Call Saul" (2015)
"Die Juden sind unser Unglück!"
- Heinrich von Treitschke (1834 - 1896)
"But vhere vill ve be able to vatch gay jews taking black cock up ze
ass?"
- Klaun Shittinb'ricks (1940 - ), bemoaning the depletion of jews
in Hollyvood and the effect on his viewing preferences
Message-ID: <84d32dts2ho3gnrb1...@4ax.com>
Colonel Edmund J. Burke
> On Wed, 20 Jun 2018 09:58:57 -0700, "fake vet Scatboi Colon La Edmund
> J. Burke" <burke...@bigass-babes.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>> In article <2338a5b3-d790-4457...@googlegroups.com>,
>>> jjmend...@gmail.com wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Tuesday, February 13, 2001 at 3:55:50 AM UTC-8, sidra mahmood wrote:
>>>>> Hi my name is Sidra and I am a college student in England studying English
>>>>> language, and specifically the way that slang has changed in the last 50
>>>>> years . Below are a list of words I have taken from a web page on 'The
>>>>> Catcher in the Rye' and I would like to know by any American readers if any
>>>>> of these words are still used today and if so in what context. Any direct
>>>>> response would be greatly appreciated via e-mail as i may not be able to
>>>>> visit this NG again for a little while. Thankyou for your help.
>>>>> Sidra.
>>
>>
>> Sidra,
>> I'd like to run my tongue all over yer body.
>
> KKKoloon,
> I doubt she'd WANT a dirty moulie tongue all over her body.
She don't want your tongue all over but I do.
LOL
Bozo_D...@37.com
> R Fontana <re...@columbia.edu> writes:
>
> A bunch of answers I agree with.
> > On Tue, 13 Feb 2001, sidra mahmood wrote:
> >
> > > get wise: Are you getting wise with me?= Are you making fun of me?
> >
> > would be understood (e.g. through exposure to old cultural
> > materials). Some related expressions involving "wise" might be a
> > bit more current.
>
> Specifically, calling someone a "wise guy" has that meaning. There's
> a related expression, "don't you get smart with me!" still addressed
> by adults to children, but it doesn't mean "make fun of" but rather
> something like "presume to speak that way".
> > > half nelson: to get someone in a ~: to hit someone
> >
> > nelson referred to a sort of wrestling move.
>
> Specifically "a wrestling hold in which one arm is thrust under the
> corresponding arm of an opponent and the hand placed on the back of
> the opponent's neck". If both arms are used, it's a "full nelson".
> > > stink up: to do something completely wrong
> >
> > suggest "poor performance", but that specific use of "stink up" is
> > not familiar to me.
>
> The exagerated extent of "stink" can be "stink up the place/joint".
> "Stink up" by itself wouldn't be used.
>
> --
> Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
> HP Laboratories |It's not coherent, it's merely
> 1501 Page Mill Road, Building 1U |focused.
> Palo Alto, CA 94304 | Keith Moore
>
> kirsh...@hpl.hp.com
> (650)857-7572
>
> http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Evan_Kirshenbaum/
This is OT but i saw your name and wondered if you have any namesake relations in Walnut area of California near Mt SAC college about four score and seven years ago it seems and may have already asked you this and if I did, sorry?
Peeler
psychopath of sci and scj and Usenet's famous sexual cripple, making an ass
of herself as "jew pedophile Ron Jacobson (jew pedophile Baruch 'Barry'
Shein's jew aliash)", farted again:
>>Sidra,
>>I'd like to run my tongue all over yer body.
>
> KKKoloon,
> I doubt she'd WANT a dirty moulie tongue all over her body.
Colonel, gay dreckserb!
--
tomcov about poor psychotic asshole Razovic:
"Assholes come
Assholes go
But the revd asshole goes on forever.
(and he speaks through it)"
MID: <83356bf8-8666-4f4f...@n35g2000yqf.googlegroups.com>
jew pedophile Ron Jacobson (jew pedophile Baruch 'Barry' Shein's jew aliash)
>On 6/20/2018 10:19 AM, jew pedophile Ron Jacobson (jew pedophile Baruch 'Barry' Shein's jew aliash) wrote:
>> On Wed, 20 Jun 2018 09:58:57 -0700, "fake vet Scatboi Colon La Edmund
>> J. Burke" <burke...@bigass-babes.com> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>> In article <2338a5b3-d790-4457...@googlegroups.com>,
>>>> jjmend...@gmail.com wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Tuesday, February 13, 2001 at 3:55:50 AM UTC-8, sidra mahmood wrote:
>>>>>> Hi my name is Sidra and I am a college student in England studying English
>>>>>> language, and specifically the way that slang has changed in the last 50
>>>>>> years . Below are a list of words I have taken from a web page on 'The
>>>>>> Catcher in the Rye' and I would like to know by any American readers if any
>>>>>> of these words are still used today and if so in what context. Any direct
>>>>>> response would be greatly appreciated via e-mail as i may not be able to
>>>>>> visit this NG again for a little while. Thankyou for your help.
>>>>>> Sidra.
>>>
>>>
>>> Sidra,
>>> I'd like to run my tongue all over yer body.
>>
>> KKKoloon,
>> I doubt she'd WANT a dirty moulie tongue all over her body.
>
>Now I'll rewrite what you meant to say....
tranny 'Pleasance's' anus.
Athel Cornish-Bowden
> On 20/06/18 08:07, Paul Wolff wrote:
>>
>>
>> What does "yo im trynna" mean? Extra marks will be awarded for
>> cogency of reasoning.
>
> Google Translate thinks it's Hausa for "I'm sorry".
it is for French or Spanish), so if ever you want to know what Boko
Haram are saying Google Translate will give you a very plausible idea.
--
athel
Athel Cornish-Bowden
posts. Pity.
--
athel
Richard Yates
Bozo_D...@37.com
John Varela
meant "Present".
--
John Varela
Peeler
Shein's jew aliash)", farted again:
>> Now I'll rewrite what you meant to say....
>>
>> LOL
>
> tranny 'Pleasance's' anus.
you goose-stepping little felcher?
--
P-Dub to G. Razovic, the serb sexual cripple:
"You are a nothing. You have no skills. You have no job. You have no
woman. You can't have sex."
MID: <h6W8t.368009$PC7.2...@newsfe03.iad>
Peter Duncanson [BrE]
no longer exists and a search for his name on the H-P website finds
nothing.
He did have a website at: www.kirshenbaum.net
but that no longer exists.
He has a Twitter account:
https://twitter.com/evanKirshenbaum
and a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/evan.kirshenbaum
Mack A. Damia
Evan R. Kirshenbaum
CURRENT ADDRESS:
441 Bella Corte # 5
Mountain View CA 94043-2896
PHONE NUMBERS:
(650) 390-9745
(Previous address: Palo Alto)
https://www.whitepages.com/name/Evan-R-Kirshenbaum/Mountain-View-CA/9s0nxnw
Madhu
* CDB <pgdp2k$1ot2$1...@gioia.aioe.org> :
Wrote on Wed, 20 Jun 2018 10:41:17 -0400:
>> .... 2. slang (orig. in African-American usage). In weakened use,
>> following or punctuating an utterance for emphasis or as a general
>> conversational filler. ?1987 ‘DJ Jazzy Jeff’ & ‘The Fresh Prince’
>> Girls ain't Nothing but Trouble (transcribed from music video) But
>> enough about me, yo, let's talk about you. 1991 D. Simon Homicide
>> (1993) 117 Somebody 'round here been doin' some talking, yo. ....
>
> Some here thought it might be Italian "io", a response to hearing one's
> name in a roll-call.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia#Io_Saturnalia
Peter Moylan
mixture of "yes" and "no".
CDB
wrote: >> Peter Duncanson [BrE] wrote:>>> Paul Wolff
>>> .... 2. slang (orig. in African-American usage). In weakened
>>> use, following or punctuating an utterance for emphasis or as a
>>> general conversational filler. ?1987 ‘DJ Jazzy Jeff’ & ‘The
>>> Fresh Prince’ Girls ain't Nothing but Trouble (transcribed from
>>> music video) But enough about me, yo, let's talk about you. 1991
>>> D. Simon Homicide (1993) 117 Somebody 'round here been doin'
>>> some talking, yo. ....
>> Some here thought it might be Italian "io", a response to hearing
>> one's name in a roll-call.
> Yo Saturnalia
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia#Io_Saturnalia
Peter Duncanson [BrE]
date of the original. Or as the OED puts it, "the date of documentary
evidence" as opposed to "the date of composition"
The OED's pop-up Citation Details for that quote says:
The Towneley plays (ed. Martin Stevens and Arthur Clare Cawley)
· EETS edition, 1994 (2 vols.). (EETSSS 13, 14).
» More on dating Middle English evidence in the OED
The last line is a clickable link.
The two earlier quotes that I omitted also have recent dates for the
publication being quoted from as well as the date of the original:
a1475 (?a1450) Tournam. of Tottenham (Harl.) (1930) l. 144 (MED)
I am in my iolyte, With io forth, Gybbe!
c1475 Mankind (Folg.) (1969) l. 457 Myscheff. How, Neu Gyse,
Nowadays, herke or I goo! When owr hedys wer togethere I spake of
si dedero. Neu Gyse. ?o [emended in ed. to ?e], go þi wey! We xall
gaþer mony onto.
>> .... 2. slang (orig. in African-American usage). In weakened use,
>> following or punctuating an utterance for emphasis or as a general
>> conversational filler. ?1987 ‘DJ Jazzy Jeff’ & ‘The Fresh Prince’
>> Girls ain't Nothing but Trouble (transcribed from music video) But
>> enough about me, yo, let's talk about you. 1991 D. Simon Homicide
>> (1993) 117 Somebody 'round here been doin' some talking, yo. ....
>
>Some here thought it might be Italian "io", a response to hearing one's
>name in a roll-call.
>
Peter T. Daniels
> On 6/20/2018 10:44 PM, Madhu wrote> * CDB <pgdp2k$1ot2$1...@gioia.aioe.org>
> wrote:
>> Peter Duncanson [BrE] wrote:
>>> Paul Wolff
> >>> Io furth, Greynhorne! and war oute, Gryme!
> >> "Io furth" looks like "go forth" to me. Forms of "go" in some
> >> dialects started with [j], like the common Middle-English "yode",
> >> "went" (from OE "eode"). Yes, yes, perhaps; G'Boo indicates the
> >> phrases are shouted to the two named oxen from behind the plough.
> >> 1994?
> > Maybe the OUP publication date
>
> Probably. It might have been an error for 1594, and I wondered.
texts that they used.
Jerry Friedman
> On Wed, 20 Jun 2018 07:24:28 -0700 (PDT), Jerry Friedman
> <jerry_f...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> On Wednesday, June 20, 2018 at 7:45:08 AM UTC-6, Richard Yates wrote:
>>> On Wed, 20 Jun 2018 14:11:56 +0100, Paul Wolff
>>> <boun...@thiswontwork.wolff.co.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Wed, 20 Jun 2018, Peter T. Daniels <gram...@verizon.net> posted:
>>>>> On Wednesday, June 20, 2018 at 1:22:52 AM UTC-4, Peter Moylan wrote:
>>>>>> On 20/06/18 08:07, Paul Wolff wrote:
>>>>>>> On Tue, 19 Jun 2018, "Peter Duncanson [BrE]"
>>>>>>> <ma...@peterduncanson.net> posted:
>>>>>>>> On Tue, 19 Jun 2018 13:11:53 -0700 (PDT), jjmend...@gmail.com
>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> [Snip many irrelevant lines]
>>>>> [but not enough]
>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> yo im trynna figure out what does the slang term swipe mean in
>>>>>>>>> catcher in the rye
>>>>>>>> One meaning of swipe is to steal.
>>>>>>> What does "yo im trynna" mean? Extra marks will be awarded for
>>>>>>> cogency of reasoning.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Google Translate thinks it's Hausa for "I'm sorry".
>>>>>
>>>>> English-speakers, though, know that it means "Hey, I'm trying to."
>>>>> Compare "gonna."
>>>>
>>>> I certainly don't know the meaning of "yo". "You" seems more likely than
>>>> "Hey". Is it ebonic(s)?
>>>
>>> Hip-hop.
>>
>> IMDB quotes it from the first /Rocky/ movie (1976)
>>
>> "Rocky: I just want to say hi to my girlfriend, OK? Yo, Adrian! It's me,
>> Rocky."
>>
>> I don't think Mr. Balboa was a fan of hip-hop, at least at the time.
>
>
> Sure. It's first uses probably go back even further than that. In the
> sentence ("yo im trynna") where it was first used here, it sounds
> hip-hop, later than the Italian-American version.
thought Paul was asking in general, and Mr. or Ms. Mendoza's use looks a
lot like Rocky's.
> (And, of course,
> even there it was not a quotation but an imitation.)
earlier.
--
Jerry Friedman
CDB
[Yo, Caulfield? GooBoo says not in _Catcher_ snippets]
>>> The OED has for "yo":
>>> A. int. 1. An exclamation used to attract attention, to express
>>> warning, surprise, etc., or to incite or encourage action; hey!
>>> Later (colloq. (frequently in African-American usage)) used as a
>>> greeting or in response to a greeting.
>>> a1475 ... a1500 (?a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. ii. 12
>>> Io furth, Greynhorne! and war oute, Gryme!
>> "Io furth" looks like "go forth" to me. Forms of "go" in some
>> dialects started with [j], like the common Middle-English "yode",
>> "went" (from OE "eode"). Yes, yes, perhaps; G'Boo indicates the
>> phrases are shouted to the two named oxen from behind the plough.
>> 1994?
> That is tha date of publication of the copy being quoted from, not
> the date of the original. Or as the OED puts it, "the date of
> documentary evidence" as opposed to "the date of composition"
> The OED's pop-up Citation Details for that quote says: The Towneley
> plays (ed. Martin Stevens and Arthur Clare Cawley) · EETS edition,
> 1994 (2 vols.). (EETSSS 13, 14). » More on dating Middle English
> evidence in the OED The last line is a clickable link.
[Additional examples]
Colonel Edmund J. Burke
> On Wed, 20 Jun 2018 11:38:26 -0700, serbian bitch Razovic, the resident
> psychopath of sci and scj and Usenet's famous sexual cripple, making an ass
> of herself as "jew pedophile Ron Jacobson (jew pedophile Baruch 'Barry'
> Shein's jew aliash)", farted again:
>
>>> Now I'll rewrite what you meant to say....
>>>
>>> She don't want your tongue all over but I do.
>>> LOL
>>
>> No, you won't, Midnight. Stick yer dirty moulie tongue in yer moulie
>> tranny 'Pleasance's' anus.
>
> Just what is it with you and your fascinating with men's genitals and arses,
> you goose-stepping little felcher?
>
LOL
Colonel Edmund J. Burke
> On Wed, 20 Jun 2018 10:19:18 -0700, serbian bitch Razovic, the resident
> psychopath of sci and scj and Usenet's famous sexual cripple, making an ass
> of herself as "jew pedophile Ron Jacobson (jew pedophile Baruch 'Barry'
> Shein's jew aliash)", farted again:
>
>>> Sidra,
>>> I'd like to run my tongue all over yer body.
>>
>> KKKoloon,
>> I doubt she'd WANT a dirty moulie tongue all over her body.
>
> We all know that YOU would like to run your tongue over your beloved
> Colonel, gay dreckserb!
>
LOL