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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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  • Jules she/herA Jules she/her

    @CarstenBoll @DamonHD @Flisty "Would you like to steal some wheeled metal carts from outside the supermarket and race them?"

    CarstenC This user is from outside of this forum
    CarstenC This user is from outside of this forum
    Carsten
    wrote last edited by
    #12

    @afewbugs @DamonHD @Flisty

    But then it occured to me, he wanted to get verbed! Ah, good ol' Timmy, what an absolute noun!

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

      @CarstenBoll @DamonHD @Flisty "Would you like to steal some wheeled metal carts from outside the supermarket and race them?"

      FlicF This user is from outside of this forum
      FlicF This user is from outside of this forum
      Flic
      wrote last edited by
      #13

      @afewbugs @CarstenBoll @DamonHD I mean they are often related activities...

      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!"

        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
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              • 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
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                            • 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
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