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  3. One of the greatest strengths of the English language is any noun can be an insult if delivered in the right tone.

One of the greatest strengths of the English language is any noun can be an insult if delivered in the right tone.

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  • Cassana 🍻C Cassana 🍻

    @afewbugs New grammar module:
    British english insultative vocative: “You (insert random creatively applicable noun).
    Emphatic insultative vocative: “you absolute …”
    This one is of course related and regularly combined with the common exclamatory vocative: "Oy!", e.g., "oy, you absolute disco light!"

    QuixoticgeekQ This user is from outside of this forum
    QuixoticgeekQ This user is from outside of this forum
    Quixoticgeek
    wrote last edited by
    #14

    @cassana @afewbugs the crazy thing with this is you can also use it to describe being drunk. "Got utterly trousered yesterday" "totally gazebod"...

    JenJ robR 2 Replies Last reply
    0
    • FlicF Flic

      @CarstenBoll @DamonHD @afewbugs trolleyed hammered smashed wankered pissed are the universal ones (pissed *off* is angry - gets confusing translating between US and UK sometimes). But you can verb any noun to do the same...

      0xC0DEC0DE07EAC This user is from outside of this forum
      0xC0DEC0DE07EAC This user is from outside of this forum
      0xC0DEC0DE07EA
      wrote last edited by
      #15

      @Flisty @CarstenBoll @DamonHD @afewbugs ah! Trolleyed (or troll-eyed even for that matter) could have some logic behind it for drunk. “Want to rely on public transit to get home because we won’t be fit to walk any real distance let alone bike or drive?”

      CarstenC 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • 0xC0DEC0DE07EAC 0xC0DEC0DE07EA

        @Flisty @CarstenBoll @DamonHD @afewbugs ah! Trolleyed (or troll-eyed even for that matter) could have some logic behind it for drunk. “Want to rely on public transit to get home because we won’t be fit to walk any real distance let alone bike or drive?”

        CarstenC This user is from outside of this forum
        CarstenC This user is from outside of this forum
        Carsten
        wrote last edited by
        #16

        @c0dec0dec0de @Flisty @DamonHD @afewbugs I figured it's because you'll end up moving about like one of those shopping trolleys with a wonky wheel.

        FlicF 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • Jules she/herA Jules she/her

          RE: https://mstdn.social/@sodslawyer/116056688380387248

          One of the greatest strengths of the English language is any noun can be an insult if delivered in the right tone.

          Jon Roach, ♻️ Duke of YorkF This user is from outside of this forum
          Jon Roach, ♻️ Duke of YorkF This user is from outside of this forum
          Jon Roach, ♻️ Duke of York
          wrote last edited by
          #17

          @afewbugs hahaha our kids used to do this as a way of ending a conversation they were bored with.

          "You're a <last noun used in the preceding sentence>."

          It made no sense whatsoever and eventually I called them out on it when I could stop laughing.

          Jules she/herA 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • Jon Roach, ♻️ Duke of YorkF Jon Roach, ♻️ Duke of York

            @afewbugs hahaha our kids used to do this as a way of ending a conversation they were bored with.

            "You're a <last noun used in the preceding sentence>."

            It made no sense whatsoever and eventually I called them out on it when I could stop laughing.

            Jules she/herA This user is from outside of this forum
            Jules she/herA This user is from outside of this forum
            Jules she/her
            wrote last edited by
            #18

            @FourT4 "Your Mom is a last noun used!"

            Jon Roach, ♻️ Duke of YorkF 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • CarstenC Carsten

              @Flisty @afewbugs

              I am now imagining someone sensuously feeding a lover baked beans. Thanks a lot.

              FragarachF This user is from outside of this forum
              FragarachF This user is from outside of this forum
              Fragarach
              wrote last edited by
              #19

              @CarstenBoll @Flisty @afewbugs

              Steady on old thing, you don't feed them to the object of your affection, you persuade them to bathe in beans. In public.
              Or so I'm told ...

              FlicF 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • CarstenC Carsten

                @c0dec0dec0de @Flisty @DamonHD @afewbugs I figured it's because you'll end up moving about like one of those shopping trolleys with a wonky wheel.

                FlicF This user is from outside of this forum
                FlicF This user is from outside of this forum
                Flic
                wrote last edited by
                #20

                @CarstenBoll @c0dec0dec0de @DamonHD @afewbugs yeah what the US calls trolleys we call trams. This is a shopping trolley/cart situation

                FlicF 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • FragarachF Fragarach

                  @CarstenBoll @Flisty @afewbugs

                  Steady on old thing, you don't feed them to the object of your affection, you persuade them to bathe in beans. In public.
                  Or so I'm told ...

                  FlicF This user is from outside of this forum
                  FlicF This user is from outside of this forum
                  Flic
                  wrote last edited by
                  #21

                  @Fragarach @CarstenBoll @afewbugs red nose day is coming up ...

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • FlicF Flic

                    @CarstenBoll @c0dec0dec0de @DamonHD @afewbugs yeah what the US calls trolleys we call trams. This is a shopping trolley/cart situation

                    FlicF This user is from outside of this forum
                    FlicF This user is from outside of this forum
                    Flic
                    wrote last edited by
                    #22

                    @CarstenBoll @c0dec0dec0de @DamonHD @afewbugs I once raced in a shopping trolley down a street in Brisbane when on a trip there as a student. Classic international activity apparently

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • QuixoticgeekQ Quixoticgeek

                      @cassana @afewbugs the crazy thing with this is you can also use it to describe being drunk. "Got utterly trousered yesterday" "totally gazebod"...

                      JenJ This user is from outside of this forum
                      JenJ This user is from outside of this forum
                      Jen
                      wrote last edited by
                      #23

                      @quixoticgeek @cassana @afewbugs or mix and match!

                      "You're totally tabled, you utter biro!"

                      Cassana 🍻C 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • JenJ Jen

                        @quixoticgeek @cassana @afewbugs or mix and match!

                        "You're totally tabled, you utter biro!"

                        Cassana 🍻C This user is from outside of this forum
                        Cassana 🍻C This user is from outside of this forum
                        Cassana 🍻
                        wrote last edited by
                        #24

                        @jetlagjen @quixoticgeek @afewbugs The funny thing is that it only works with a solid British accent. I used to get mistaken for Canadian when talking English for a long time, but then I moved to the UK, and all that shifted to modern RP with hints of Essex and London. And suddenly this magical world of creative vocabulary and wordplay opened up to me.

                        JenJ 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • Jules she/herA Jules she/her

                          RE: https://mstdn.social/@sodslawyer/116056688380387248

                          One of the greatest strengths of the English language is any noun can be an insult if delivered in the right tone.

                          Ludwig VielfrassL This user is from outside of this forum
                          Ludwig VielfrassL This user is from outside of this forum
                          Ludwig Vielfrass
                          wrote last edited by
                          #25

                          @afewbugs also nearly every alliterative “verbing the noun” construction sounds like an euphemism for masturbation.

                          Piers CawleyP OblomovO 2 Replies Last reply
                          0
                          • Jules she/herA Jules she/her

                            RE: https://mstdn.social/@sodslawyer/116056688380387248

                            One of the greatest strengths of the English language is any noun can be an insult if delivered in the right tone.

                            Wonderdog 🏳️‍🌈C This user is from outside of this forum
                            Wonderdog 🏳️‍🌈C This user is from outside of this forum
                            Wonderdog 🏳️‍🌈
                            wrote last edited by
                            #26

                            @afewbugs See Australian usage of "mate" ...

                            Simon LandmineS 1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • Jules she/herA Jules she/her

                              @FourT4 "Your Mom is a last noun used!"

                              Jon Roach, ♻️ Duke of YorkF This user is from outside of this forum
                              Jon Roach, ♻️ Duke of YorkF This user is from outside of this forum
                              Jon Roach, ♻️ Duke of York
                              wrote last edited by
                              #27

                              @afewbugs exactly this. "You're a dog brush", that sort of thing.

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • QuixoticgeekQ Quixoticgeek

                                @cassana @afewbugs the crazy thing with this is you can also use it to describe being drunk. "Got utterly trousered yesterday" "totally gazebod"...

                                robR This user is from outside of this forum
                                robR This user is from outside of this forum
                                rob
                                wrote last edited by
                                #28

                                @quixoticgeek @cassana @afewbugs you got wallpapered, didn't you

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • Jules she/herA Jules she/her

                                  RE: https://mstdn.social/@sodslawyer/116056688380387248

                                  One of the greatest strengths of the English language is any noun can be an insult if delivered in the right tone.

                                  GJ Groothedde 🇪🇺E This user is from outside of this forum
                                  GJ Groothedde 🇪🇺E This user is from outside of this forum
                                  GJ Groothedde 🇪🇺
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #29

                                  @afewbugs I should say this is, in fact, a strength of any language. 🤷🏻‍♂️

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • Cassana 🍻C Cassana 🍻

                                    @afewbugs New grammar module:
                                    British english insultative vocative: “You (insert random creatively applicable noun).
                                    Emphatic insultative vocative: “you absolute …”
                                    This one is of course related and regularly combined with the common exclamatory vocative: "Oy!", e.g., "oy, you absolute disco light!"

                                    Piers CawleyP This user is from outside of this forum
                                    Piers CawleyP This user is from outside of this forum
                                    Piers Cawley
                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #30

                                    @cassana @afewbugs note that, without the “you”, exactly the same nouns can be used as a term of affection.

                                    “Hello, gazebo!” — affectionate
                                    “You table!” — insulting

                                    As Pete Seeger noted, English is crazy.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • Ludwig VielfrassL Ludwig Vielfrass

                                      @afewbugs also nearly every alliterative “verbing the noun” construction sounds like an euphemism for masturbation.

                                      Piers CawleyP This user is from outside of this forum
                                      Piers CawleyP This user is from outside of this forum
                                      Piers Cawley
                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #31

                                      @lerxst @afewbugs “Are you verbing the noun in there Billy? You’ll go blind if you’re not careful!”

                                      Doesn’t have to be alliterative.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • Cassana 🍻C Cassana 🍻

                                        @jetlagjen @quixoticgeek @afewbugs The funny thing is that it only works with a solid British accent. I used to get mistaken for Canadian when talking English for a long time, but then I moved to the UK, and all that shifted to modern RP with hints of Essex and London. And suddenly this magical world of creative vocabulary and wordplay opened up to me.

                                        JenJ This user is from outside of this forum
                                        JenJ This user is from outside of this forum
                                        Jen
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #32

                                        @cassana @quixoticgeek @afewbugs that's delightful! I hope you're having fun with it.

                                        Although it only works in British accents, it does work in *all* of them.

                                        "Ahm bluddy loo rawlled, eh?" (Cumbria)

                                        "Ye buzz seat!" (West Midlands)

                                        "We'll gan get bridged" (Geordie)

                                        "He is such a bookcase!" (RP)

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • Wonderdog 🏳️‍🌈C Wonderdog 🏳️‍🌈

                                          @afewbugs See Australian usage of "mate" ...

                                          Simon LandmineS This user is from outside of this forum
                                          Simon LandmineS This user is from outside of this forum
                                          Simon Landmine
                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #33

                                          @caity @afewbugs That's not just limited to Australia - still practiced in the UK, too ...

                                          1 Reply Last reply
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