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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 133694
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Posted: 13 November 2006 at 7:46am | IP Logged | 1
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Tool is a word meaning a useful piece of equipment that makes work easier.** Keep in mind that "tool" is also a slang term for the male reproductive member, and that many of our more prejorative terms come to us from this source. Thank you Oliver Cromwell.
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Patrick Drury Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 14 December 2005 Posts: 695
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Posted: 13 November 2006 at 7:56am | IP Logged | 2
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Gay was originally defined as being happy and has in the last 50 or so
years it has been used to refer to someone as being homosexual.
Tool is a word meaning a useful piece of equipment that makes work easier.
Context seems pretty clear to me, Patrick. ==================================
And when someone used to say "my old lady" the lady in question didn't have to be old. And cool describes temperature - not something's cultural signifigance. Subverting the meaning of words seems common to slang from every generation.
And John's right. When you call someone a tool, you're specifically calling them a dick. I also understand some men think of their penis as a "useful piece of equipment." See? Context.
Edited by Patrick Drury on 13 November 2006 at 8:29am
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Joe Mayer Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 24 January 2005 Posts: 1397
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Posted: 13 November 2006 at 8:06am | IP Logged | 3
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I like my useful piece of equipment.
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Jo Harvatt Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 06 July 2006 Posts: 1523
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Posted: 13 November 2006 at 8:18am | IP Logged | 4
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The female counterpart of your useful equipment is of course a tool grinder.
Also, by (penis?) extension tool is criminal slang for carrying arms as in the expression 'going into a job tooled up'.
Edited by Jo Harvatt on 13 November 2006 at 8:18am
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Brett Rankin Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2006 Location: United States Posts: 180
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Posted: 13 November 2006 at 9:05am | IP Logged | 5
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A tool is probably more equivalent to a dork.
Sorry about my slang Wes. From now on I'll talk like I'm 30 years older than I actually am, just to appease you, my wise elder.
Honestly, I'm sorry about that, and my snide comment above. I'm just young and impulsive. Sometimes I even use contractions improperly. On purpose!
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 133694
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Posted: 13 November 2006 at 9:24am | IP Logged | 6
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When you call someone a tool, you're specifically calling them a dick.*** Something I have long found interesting in our use of "dirty words" is the way we have different levels, and make it allowable to refer to something in one way, but not in another. "Boob" is allowable in contexts where "tit" is considered vulgar. "Shit" is a no-no, but "crap" is okay. "Poo" is downright cute. Back when I was in college, I read an (unintentionally) amusing newspaper article about prominent feminist Germaine Greer making a speech at a school in Australia, where, we were informed by the article's writer, she peppered her talk with "a euphamism for sexual intercourse." The old relaible "fuck" can be called many things, language-wise, but "euphemism" is not one of them!
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Roger A Ott II Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 29 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 5371
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Posted: 13 November 2006 at 9:36am | IP Logged | 7
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I remember watching Letterman back when he was on NBC, and Dave making a comment about them having to bleep out the word "pissed" from a guest's discussion. Nowadays that word isn't even blinked at when heard on tv and radio.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 133694
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Posted: 13 November 2006 at 9:41am | IP Logged | 8
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I still recall the moment of shock that accompanied the use of "boobs" on an episode of "Maude". Doubly shocking, since the reference was not to Adrienne Barbeau!
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Emery Calame Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 5773
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Posted: 13 November 2006 at 10:18am | IP Logged | 9
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Where is fake Russia? I want some fake vodka. And one of those hats.
Have you tried Disney World? They might be able to help you out. I had fun in fake Mexico, Fake Italy, Fake Denmark(or was it fake Norway?), and fake Canada...
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Michael Penn Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006 Location: United States Posts: 12788
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Posted: 13 November 2006 at 10:18am | IP Logged | 10
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Breast cancer episode in MAUDE, if I recall, eh?
I have 13 and a 12 year old. Shit is never proper, but poop and doodie are fine. Crap, by their mother's edict, is not! Piss is never proper, but pee is fine. Tit is never proper, but boob is fine. Um, boobs are fine?
Anyway, indeed they are.
Oh, and fuck is never proper, not so much even in euphemism. When discussing human behavior, reproduction, etc., we just tell it straight but with medical terms. Anyway, even very little kids today are used to vagina and penis as proper terms.
Addendum: The 13 year old boy, however, loves the old expression: make like a hockey player and get the puck out of here!
Edited by Michael Penn on 13 November 2006 at 10:22am
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Jo Harvatt Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 06 July 2006 Posts: 1523
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Posted: 13 November 2006 at 10:59am | IP Logged | 11
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Apropos levels of offensiveness I always think 'prick' is worse than 'dick' which in turn is coarser than 'willy'.
Shit has only recently become offensive, I remember reading some 19th century literature which referred to 'shitehouses' without a blush, and conversely as a young teenager I quite shocked my uncle by opining that I was 'knackered' as in his day that was a factory floor not a schoolchild expression.
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Michael Penn Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006 Location: United States Posts: 12788
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Posted: 13 November 2006 at 11:30am | IP Logged | 12
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In his Responsio ad Lutherum, Sir (Saint!) Thomas More calls Luther an "ape, an arse, a drunkard, a lousy little friar, a piece of scurf, a pestilential buffoon, a dishonest liar," and avers that:
>>Someone should shit into Luther’s mouth, he farts anathema, it will be right to piss into his mouth, he is a shit-devil, he is filled with shit, dung, filth, and excrement; look, my own fingers are covered with shit when I try to clean his filthy mouth.<<
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