Slang Terms That Just Confuse You

[TDK]

Some slang words just baffle the listener.

For example: Shorty (or "shawty", if you're retarded), so far as I can tell, means "girl", usually affectionately.

This doesn't seem to have any basis in reality, as the girl's height doesn't seem to play into whether she is a "shorty" or not. Also, "shorty" sounds more derogatory if anything when referring to height.

Possible: Because girls are slightly shorter on average. I really don't want this to be true because I REALLY don't want to believe people are that stupid. But these are the same people who glorify beating women and getting shot, so...


Any takers? Want to fill me in on the (most likely stupid) origin of this term, or post something that baffles you?

[Magus]

No, I think you got the origin of the term right, where the girl is, on average, shorter than the guy. Although it probably wouldn't hurt to look it up on Urban Dictionary (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shorty), they might have something on there.

I have a harder time figuring out how "boyfriend/girlfriend" got turned into "boo".

EDIT: "boo is a term that is derived from the French word "beau" meaning beautiful. In 18th century England it meant an admirer, usually male. It made it's way into Afro-Caribean language perhaps through the French colonisation of some Caribean islands.

Now meaning girl or boyfriend"

Sounds reasonable.

[Hanuman]

British English.

[Premmy]

Some slang words just baffle the listener.

For example: Shorty (or "shawty", if you're retarded), so far as I can tell, means "girl", usually affectionately.

This doesn't seem to have any basis in reality, as the girl's height doesn't seem to play into whether she is a "shorty" or not. Also, "shorty" sounds more derogatory if anything when referring to height.

Possible: Because girls are slightly shorter on average. I really don't want this to be true because I REALLY don't want to believe people are that stupid. But these are the same people who glorify beating women and getting shot, so...


Any takers? Want to fill me in on the (most likely stupid) origin of this term, or post something that baffles you?
Shorty can also mean "Child" in certain regions up north, at least it did when I was a Shorty :P.

Slang means different things different places. Some people argue that slang exists specifically to not be understood by those outside the subculture that uses it, as evidenced by slang terms falling out of use when the mainstream culture picks up on it.

[bluestarultor]

Shorty can also mean "Child" in certain regions up north, at least it did when I was a Shorty :P.

Slang means different things different places. Some people argue that slang exists specifically to not be understood by those outside the subculture that uses it, as evidenced by slang terms falling out of use when the mainstream culture picks up on it.

"Come on, let's go back to the flippity-floppity-floop!"
"Noooo! Don't say that!"

[Melfice]

British English.

Yeah, this amuses me too.
And then I figure "US superiority complex", and I move on.


No offence to people from the US.

[Green Spanner]

"What am I, chopped liver?"

Yeah, I get what it means given the context I've heard it in, but still...

What?

[Viridis]

Rhyming slang. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyming_slang)

[Doc ock rokc]

British English.

American term Describing the British accent and tendency to use longer words (mostly due to stereotypes)
their is one for both the southern and northern parts of the US as well... its mainly a describing term.
example
"why where you having such a hard time understanding him?"
"oh he was speaking British english"

[katiuska]

Yeah, this amuses me too.
And then I figure "US superiority complex", and I move on.


No offence to people from the US.

None taken, though that's not quite fair. It does sound kind of redundant, but it's added when one needs to specify the dialect. We don't add the qualifier every time we mean "American English" because it's implicit in a context where that's what most or all of the people are speaking. I don't know, how do Canadian francophones indicate France-French, as opposed to Canada-French?

[bluestarultor]

None taken, though that's not quite fair. It does sound kind of redundant, but it's added when one needs to specify the dialect. We don't add the qualifier every time we mean "American English" because it's implicit in a context where that's what most or all of the people are speaking. I don't know, how do Canadian francophones indicate France-French, as opposed to Canada-French?

Incredibly nasally, using words outdated by hundreds of years. :p


I kid, but, well, I heard a lot of gaff about Canadian French from other French-speakers when I was still in a position to speak French. (Realizing you've lost most of a language is very sad. :()

[Kerensky287]

I don't understand why the term "Dropped the ball" is ever used. I mean, I get what it means... but "Dropped the soap" just works SO MUCH BETTER to get across the same meaning, you know? Rather than just losing a game of catch or basketball or something, you are setting yourself up for sodomy.

[Azisien]

Getting "merked" was an annoying term I only learned when I visited Toronto multiple times.

I understand, vaguely, the apparent origin, but come on, mercenaries sometimes like, escort people and shit.

[BloodyMage]

Doesn't dropping the ball refer to having failed which is nothing like dropping the soap or the implied sodomy of doing so? Or is there some original meaning that I'm unaware of?

[Premmy]

I really don't see how people are annoyed by slang, what is the big deal?

[phil_]

I really don't see how people are annoyed by slang, what is the big deal?Premonitions, if I found something amusing, and you were in the same room, and I expressed my amusement by rapidly clucking "elohelohelohelohelohel," would you or wouldn't you punch me? Answer truthfully. It might save me a punch in the face from you someday.

The issue is sorta like that, I imagine.

[Premmy]

Premonitions, if I found something amusing, and you were in the same room, and I expressed my amusement by rapidly clucking "elohelohelohelohelohel," would you or wouldn't you punch me? Answer truthfully. It might save me a punch in the face from you someday.

The issue is sorta like that, I imagine.

Yes, but see I also am aware that that's me being an asshole as it's none of my business how people choose to express themselves and I should just learn to deal with people speaking other languages/using language different.

Other people don't annoy me, I'm a dick and am annoyed by other people.

[Sir Pinkleton]

Honky tonk.
I don't know what it is, or where it comes from. I just know there was a crappy video game somewhere where a redneck trucker would constantly yell that.

[Doc ock rokc]

Honky tonk.
I don't know what it is, or where it comes from. I just know there was a crappy video game somewhere where a redneck trucker would constantly yell that.

honky tonk is a type of bar with musical entertainment common in the Southern and Southwestern United States. The term has also been applied to various styles of 20th-century American music mostly country and country rock.

honky was a term used to be racist to white people (that we found hilarious and used it ourselves)
Tonk was a brand name for pianos commonly found in such bars.

[phil_]

Other people don't annoy me, I'm a dick and am annoyed by other people.What a coincidence, I'm a dick, too.

-alternatively-

lol wut?

[Donomni]

Fag(As in the word, durp).

How the hell did it become a term for everyone insulted by a middle-schooler?

[bluestarultor]

Fag(As in the word, durp).

How the hell did it become a term for everyone insulted by a middle-schooler?

Well, the term "faggot" actually means a bundle of wood, and you can see how that could transmute into male anatomy. As for why it got applied as a catch-all insult, it's just a matter of "gay" being used as a negative label to slap on anything and everything, so calling someone a fag is just a quick and dirty insult one can spit in a syllable.

Personally, I think it's retarded that people are still spewing that crap, but then high school students aren't exactly known for their wisdom and maturity. Actually, even from the standpoint of having walked among them while in high school, they're about as idiotic as you can get, with a maturity level of about that of a ten-year-old, little-dog syndrome, and the delusion of being bulletproof.

[Funka Genocide]

this entire thread is wack yo

[Premmy]

whack yo' what?

[katiuska]

Well, the term "faggot" actually means a bundle of wood, and you can see how that could transmute into male anatomy. As for why it got applied as a catch-all insult, it's just a matter of "gay" being used as a negative label to slap on anything and everything, so calling someone a fag is just a quick and dirty insult one can spit in a syllable.

Personally, I think it's retarded that people are still spewing that crap, but then high school students aren't exactly known for their wisdom and maturity. Actually, even from the standpoint of having walked among them while in high school, they're about as idiotic as you can get, with a maturity level of about that of a ten-year-old, little-dog syndrome, and the delusion of being bulletproof.

My 10th grade English teacher told us that the word became an epithet in concentration camps, because they viewed homosexuals with so much contempt that they considered them like kindle for the other bodies they were burning; a quick search, however, fails to back that up, so that's probably just BS.

Incidentally, my dad occasionally uses the word maricón in the same sort of general way 14-year-old boys use fag/gay, which I understand isn't uncommon for his time and place.

[DFM]

whack yo' what?

Whack yo' faggot.

[Premmy]

'snot my faggot, might be yo' faggot.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Personally, I think it's retarded that people are still spewing that crap, but then high school students aren't exactly known for their wisdom and maturity. Actually, even from the standpoint of having walked among them while in high school, they're about as idiotic as you can get, with a maturity level of about that of a ten-year-old, little-dog syndrome, and the delusion of being bulletproof.

I like how while condoning the use of derogatory terms about homosexuals we can just insult a whole different swathe of people.

[Jagos]

I could swear fags were cigarettes.

[katiuska]

That too, but we almost never call them that in the U.S.

[Nikose Tyris]

I enjoy the random adding of slang to sentences, and renaming different acts. At the moment, "Torrenting" is referred to as "Baby-Punching" in my circle of friends, since it's a frowned-upon discussion topic for them while studying game design at Humber.

[DFM]

I read a series once from a UK based author and the second book on had a little disclaimer at the start that said smoking a fag was not the horrible practice Americans might think at first.

[Azisien]

I dunno though, smoking fags has always left a yucky taste in my mouth.

[Eldezar]

When I used to frequent Northern West Virginia (as in that little slip that splits Ohio and Pennsylvania which nobody really refers to as WV cuz their just like OH and PA) there are people that like to substitute the word ignorant for anything relating to obnoxious, wierd, stupid, ridiculous and whatever else the term might not fit in but use it there anyways.

Also, in Southwestern Ohio, people call bell peppers mangos.

bell peppers
http://coolrain44.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/bell_peppers.jpg

mangos
http://www.port-international.com/images/katalog_neu/1/mangos.jpg

And there is no reason for it. The slang is even acknowledged in Wikipedia, but no origin for the term is given anywhere. I asked my grandmother who always used the word, she said just cause that's what people called them. It doesn't make any sense.

EDIT: Ok, apparently the reasoning for the term has been clarified on wiki, but it wasn't there before, and my gramma still didn't know why she called them that. Although, why the hell mango means pickles fruits is still beyond me.

[Nikose Tyris]

I dunno though, smoking fags has always left a yucky taste in my mouth.

http://starsmedia.ign.com/stars/image/object/143/14352076/fouad_family-guy_pictureboxart_160w.jpg

It's funny because this works both ways!

[Funka Genocide]

The term fag means cigarette because motherfucking John Constantine said so. (the real one, not Keanu Reeves.)

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/40/78853-127775-john-constantine.jpg

[bluestarultor]

I like how while condoning the use of derogatory terms about homosexuals we can just insult a whole different swathe of people.

First off, did I say I was condoning anything? I thought I was doing the opposite.

Also, I was posting a (lightly) supported opinion on the maturity of American high school students.

To clarify my stance, I have nothing against gay people, but I do have something against a rampant lack of maturity. For specific examples, see "random humor," the need for GSAs, high school cliques, liberal use of homosexual epithets to deride others, and the heavy emphasis of high school sports over more artistic endeavors, often resulting in such lovely terms as "band queer" and actions such as potatoes being thrown at the marching band whenever they got in range (hint, people have NO idea how much it costs to clean those uniforms :shifty:).

[Azisien]

First off, did I say I was condoning anything? I thought I was doing the opposite.

Condoning maybe not. But you did say 'retarded' which is a derogatory term particularly for peoples with intellectual disabilities. It's a slang trend of oppression against various groups, like 'faggot' and 'slut.'

[DFM]

At my high school the band was the only decent thing we had so they were all pretty much on a pedestal and everyone made fun of the jocks.

God my high school was weird.

[Funka Genocide]

I threw the quarterback of my middle school football team over a wall once for talking too much.

It was a very short wall, but it was pretty funny.

I don't think that has anything to do with anything, but you just reminded me of that and I thought I'd share.

Also, I found it quite amusing that you used the term retard when referring to people that abuse epithets as well. It was, as they say, humorously ironic.

[katiuska]

Well, I think "retard" is going the way of "moron," which no one remembers used to have a precise definition (an adult with the IQ of a 8-12 year old). I'm willing to say that it's far enough removed from its old usage that it no longer means anything with regard to people with developmental disabilities, but I'll admit I'm biased, because "retarded" is a fun word to say.

"Gay" may or may not meet that fate. I dislike it being used right now as a general insult, but insomuch as language is always changing, it's probably no harm done; there'll be another neutral word for "attracted to people of the same sex" because the sentiment will still be there to express.

[Funka Genocide]

Well, I think "retard" is going the way of "moron," which no one remembers used to have a precise definition (an adult with the IQ of a 8-12 year old). I'm willing to say that it's far enough removed from its old usage that it no longer means anything with regard to people with developmental disabilities, but I'll admit I'm biased, because "retarded" is a fun word to say.

You do realize you can apply the same line of reasoning to the term fag, right?

[DFM]

I don't think we're quite there with fag, yet.

Someday though, Funka.



Someday.

[Funka Genocide]

I actually started an initiative on one of the naval vessels I was stationed on to turn gay into an inherently positive adjective.

"Man this pizza is so gay!"

"Man thanks for helping me out, that was totally gay."

[DFM]

I'm so calling someone gay next time they help me.

[katiuska]

You do realize you can apply the same line of reasoning to the term fag, right?

Yeah, I got ninja'd while I was making that edit.

[TDK]

When I used to frequent Northern West Virginia (as in that little slip that splits Ohio and Pennsylvania which nobody really refers to as WV cuz their just like OH and PA) there are people that like to substitute the word ignorant for anything relating to obnoxious, wierd, stupid, ridiculous and whatever else the term might not fit in but use it there anyways.

This pretty much happens all over the south. Its commonly used by both 'gangstas' AND 'rednecks' which seems like kind of a weird crossover, but yeah, if you insult someone it is pretty common to be told 'don't be ignorant*'.

Once in this situation I commented upon the actual meaning of ignorant and I was told "Oh don't start with that shit"...So apparently she actually knew the real meaning of the word and kept using it incorrectly anyway...>_<

*Actual pronunciation is usually something like "ig-nant" not "ig-nore-ant".

[Hanuman]

So apparently she actually knew the real meaning of the word and kept using it incorrectly anyway
That's ironic, isn't it?

[Archbio]

"Gay" may or may not meet that fate. I dislike it being used right now as a general insult, but insomuch as language is always changing, it's probably no harm done; there'll be another neutral word for "attracted to people of the same sex" because the sentiment will still be there to express.

No, I think it remains significant that a group should shift from "neutral word" to "neutral word" because they get used up as slurs.

[Premmy]

That's ironic, isn't it?

actually it's more of "Dude, stop bothering me about how I talk, seriously"

[DFM]

I'm actually with Lev on this, because I trust Futurama.

[katiuska]

No, I think it remains significant that a group should shift from "neutral word" to "neutral word" because they get used up as slurs.

Fair point. It can work both ways, but it usually doesn't.

[Hanuman]

actually it's more of "Dude, stop bothering me about how I talk, seriously"
I've always been on the side of that the weight of one's comments can be carried at the listeners wish and that any system where one cannot disassociate should have a system of management.

[DFM]

I changed my mind, I don't want to be on with Lev anymore.

[Premmy]

I changed my mind, I don't want to be on with Lev anymore.

Yeah, that tends to happen when Lev talks.

[Mike McC]

"What am I, chopped liver?"

Yeah, I get what it means given the context I've heard it in, but still...

What?Well, you see, chopped liver is definitely a polarizing food. It is often made by sautéing or broiling liver and onions in schmaltz (i.e., rendered chicken fats); adding hard-boiled eggs, salt and pepper to the sautéed liver and onions, and grinding that mixture. However other methods and materials exist and so the exact process and ingredients may vary from chef to chef. As you can imagine, many people don't really care for it. They may in fact ignore it if they see it on a table spread. So, the phrase is calling upon this phenomenon, making the person feel ignored, overlooked, and neglected like that unfavored dish.

I can usually deduce the meaning of slang terms and phrases from context. There have been some that baffled me, but I can't honestly recall them right now.

[TDK]

Gentlemen: "Get cronk"

What the fuck.

[Funka Genocide]

I'm pretty sure that's "Crunk". It being a combination of both Crazy, and Drunk.

thats an easy one!

[Odjn]

actually it's more of "Dude, stop bothering me about how I talk, seriously"

Then they better not talk like a retard!