In this day and age when people are persisting in mangling the good old English language, can anyone tell me what the expression "sucks" is supposed to mean, i.e. as in (a recent forum posting) "Spain sucks".
And there's me thinking she was an old tv cook. I mean television not transvestiteLord Braykewynde said:It's another Americanism. I first became aware of it when I was a moderator on an international game site. Needless to say I took it in another way when someone in the chat room used it in a sentence which we here would take to mean something else. I gagged that person to stop them chatting but later had to eat humble pie when it was explained to me, apologise to that person and reinstate their chat
This wasn't the first time though. I also found out that fanny meant backside, bottom, bumIt got that I hated the taste of humble pie
'Sucks' means 'useless' .
Could that be why there are no air traffic controllers here in the Black Country?Philspadders said:Imagine if we still spoke or used Pepys English , i can just image air traffic controllers.....
I can just imagine your cousin advising an airliner to land....... "orl right me mon, cum on dahn eya ter Brummijum an lond on that runway over theer, when yone finished doe ferget ter goo dahn the steps otherwise you'll atta jump dahn, Tara me mon"OmOnWeelz said:...................Parksy my cousin is an Air Traffic Controller at Birmingham airport and he lives in the Black Coutry.
OmOnWeelz said:I think some of you must have been leading very sheltered lives"sucks" as slang terminology as it is currently understood has been around for around 50 years.
Philspadders said:the use of the word "gay" to refer to same sex couples started in the 1920's even though many think it is a fairly recent change of use.
I've never worked in the USA Lord B, and it's a destination I avoid as much as possible. I don't go to the cinema very often and its been used on US films andTV with its current understanding for years. I'm also not that keen on US film or TV. So I lead quite a sheltered life myselfLord Braykewynde said:Om, we are talking about the use of those words in the UK. How many on the forum are as wordly wise as your goodself in having worked here AND in the US with Yanks? Using that assumption then I think you are probably right, most of us have led sheltered lives
I also assume the OP hasn't worked with Americans, either in the UK or the States, else he wouldn't have asked the question.
I think that the expression 'it sucks' as used by Americans originally stems from the meaning of 'sucker' which was in common use in the US at the beginning of the 20th Century.Lord Braykewynde said:OmOnWeelz said:I think some of you must have been leading very sheltered lives"sucks" as slang terminology as it is currently understood has been around for around 50 years.
Sorry Om but I disagree. Fifty years ago it had a totally different meaning and referred to an act by homosexuals and was used in a derogatory manner by heterosexuals. Now it has been toned down. Words change just as the word gay has
Another English word that isn't used so much in the UK is awesome but Americans seem incapable of completing a sentence without using it
OmOnWeelz said:(I don't want to offend anyone or rock a family forum, I hope this passes the censor)
I'm truly SHOCKED that I've offended a member of English NOBility so much so that he has to use his briefs.Lord Braykewynde said:Well I'm certainly offended and such politically incorrect postings shouldn't be allowed in our diverse society. Also putting the blame on the Americans for the bastardisation of the English language is beyond comprehension. Is it any wonder that such statements are having such a profound affect on the 'special relationship' sending our colonial cousins into the arms of the Frogs French.
I have asked Parksy to pass on your address to my lawyer and I've instructed him to sue for hurt feelings