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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004vulgar?
"Part of Crown State (Mental) Hospital land was to be sold for develoment, and I led a hike there to see it before home builders bought it and cut it down. I didn't explain in advance that it was posted No Trespassing, because I don't think such signs have any validity on public land under the circumstances. But some weenie who came on the hike turned me in, to the president and he too thought it was serious. What weenies." This was the original planned paragraph, meant for a very conservative audience that I wouldn't want to offend. Or embarrass myself. Assume you are the secretary of protocol to Queen Victoria, and I have asked your advice on whether I can send her this story. Until tonight, I never had occasion to doubt the use of "weenie" which means a childish immature pansy** type who wouldn't have nerve enough to hike on public land just because there is an old No Trespassing sign 120 yards away from where we went in. **used non-sexually, the way we used to use it. But now it occurs to me that, like so many other words its basis is vulgar. Does it retain any of that? Or enough of that that HRH Queen Victoria could find the sentences at the end to be vulgar? Especially, how is the word viewed in America? Please omit answers based on the premise that vulgarities in general are ok, so certainly this one is. s/ meirman If you are emailing me please say if you are posting the same response. Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years Indianapolis, 7 years Chicago, 6 years Brooklyn NY 12 years Baltimore 20 years >HRH >Queen Victoria <pedantry alert> A Queen (or King) is HM - Her (or His) Majesty. HRH - His/Her Royal Highness is applied to lower forms of life - Princesses and Princes.  SignaturePeter Duncanson UK (posting from a.e.u) In alt.english.usage on Mon, 26 Jan 2004 11:55:40 +0000 Peter Duncanson <mail@peterduncanson.net> posted: >>HRH >>Queen Victoria [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >HRH - His/Her Royal Highness is applied to lower forms of life - Princesses >and Princes. Oh, dear. I never knew that or anything about that. Thank you, really. Please relay my apologies to HM Queen Victoria. And thank you Robin. And all of you. s/ meirman If you are emailing me please say if you are posting the same response. Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years Indianapolis, 7 years Chicago, 6 years Brooklyn NY 12 years Baltimore 20 years >"Part of Crown State (Mental) Hospital land was to be sold for >develoment, and I led a hike there to see it before home builders [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > >Especially, how is the word viewed in America? Dunno about the States. Here's what COD10 says: weenie · n. another term for wiener. wiener /"wi;n@/ (also informal weenie, wienie /"wi;ni/) · n. N. Amer. 1 a frankfurter or similar sausage. 2 vulgar slang a mans penis. 3 informal a stupid or contemptible person. ORIGIN C20: abbrev. of Ger. Wienerwurst Vienna sausage. So, with that spelling, it appears to be of American origin. For item 3, with your proviso about timidity, a modern word might be 'wimp', somebody who would have been called a 'scaredy-cat' when I were a lad. In BrE, 'weeny' means small, and is derived from the Scottish 'wee'. Although neither Sonia nor I have a drop of Scottish blood, when I told her on the phone yesterday that I had finally managed to book a trip to France at the end of next month, she told me that the 'weeny ones' (our grandsons) have grown even more adorable. I don't know how dated the expression is, but it has no negative overtones to us. Signaturewrmst rgrds Robin Bignall Quiet part of Hertfordshire England > "Part of Crown State (Mental) Hospital land was to be sold for > develoment, and I led a hike there to see it before home builders [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Especially, how is the word viewed in America? Meirman, I don't think I understand why you are asking about how the word is viewed in America. Or is this a letter someone in England has asked you to judge? In alt.english.usage on Mon, 26 Jan 2004 10:22:07 -0600 "Pat Durkin" <durkinpa@nothome.com> posted: >> "Part of Crown State (Mental) Hospital land was to be sold for >> develoment, and I led a hike there to see it before home builders [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] >viewed in America. Or is this a letter someone in England has asked you to >judge? Upon rereading, I realized that that was unclear. I was writing to Americans, but for the sake of my question, I couldn't think of any symbol of American propriety that I could count on. :*( Like I thought I could count on her. s/ meirman If you are emailing me please say if you are posting the same response. Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years Indianapolis, 7 years Chicago, 6 years Brooklyn NY 12 years Baltimore 20 years >Upon rereading, I realized that that was unclear. I was writing to >Americans, but for the sake of my question, I couldn't think of any >symbol of American propriety that I could count on. :*( Like I >thought I could count on her. American propriety? Think of Abe Lincoln's statue, and that sincere smile. Of course, it's because of the wooden false teeth, but it's the thought that counts. Signaturewrmst rgrds Robin Bignall Quiet part of Hertfordshire England > >Upon rereading, I realized that that was unclear. I was writing to > >Americans, but for the sake of my question, I couldn't think of any [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Of course, it's because of the wooden false teeth, but it's the thought > that counts. No more remarkable, I'd say, than Henry VIII's humpback. SignatureBob Lieblich Whale-ing away >> >Upon rereading, I realized that that was unclear. I was writing to >> >Americans, but for the sake of my question, I couldn't think of any [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >No more remarkable, I'd say, than Henry VIII's humpback. He developed that hump while trying to beget a legal son, and verbed the word in the process. Signaturewrmst rgrds Robin Bignall Quiet part of Hertfordshire England In alt.english.usage on Tue, 27 Jan 2004 22:02:24 +0000 Dr Robin Bignall <docrobin@ntlworld.com> posted: >>Upon rereading, I realized that that was unclear. I was writing to >>Americans, but for the sake of my question, I couldn't think of any [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >Of course, it's because of the wooden false teeth, but it's the thought >that counts. I'm sure there are no wooden teeth in Abe Lincoln's statue. s/ meirman If you are emailing me please say if you are posting the same response. Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years Indianapolis, 7 years Chicago, 6 years Brooklyn NY 12 years Baltimore 20 years >In alt.english.usage on Tue, 27 Jan 2004 22:02:24 +0000 Dr Robin >Bignall <docrobin@ntlworld.com> posted: [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >I'm sure there are no wooden teeth in Abe Lincoln's statue. You have to use your imagination plus all of that constitutional history that was rammed down your throat at school. We don't got no constitution, so we get to miss that part out and, instead, snigger about Henry VIII and his wives, and Gladstone going around 'saving' all of those fallen ladies. Signaturewrmst rgrds Robin Bignall Quiet part of Hertfordshire England Dr Robin Bignall spake thus: > >In alt.english.usage on Tue, 27 Jan 2004 22:02:24 +0000 Dr Robin > >Bignall <docrobin@ntlworld.com> posted: [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > so we get to miss that part out and, instead, snigger about Henry VIII and > his wives, and Gladstone going around 'saving' all of those fallen ladies. I think they must have been Gladstone's Bags. SignatureDavid ===== > Dr Robin Bignall spake thus: > [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > I think they must have been Gladstone's Bags. One of Morecombe & Wise's finest moments:- Eric to Salvation Army Gal - "Do you save fallen women?" Salvation Army Gal - "Yes" Eric - "Save one for me will you?" Actually, I suspected, and only an hour later heard on a stupid tv gameshow!, that it is George Washington that is said to have had wooden false teeth. IIRC, I've also heard, or read at a museum, that this wasn't true. They were ivory, maybe? I'm confused. In alt.english.usage on Tue, 27 Jan 2004 22:02:24 +0000 Dr Robin Bignall <docrobin@ntlworld.com> posted: >>Upon rereading, I realized that that was unclear. I was writing to >>Americans, but for the sake of my question, I couldn't think of any [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >Of course, it's because of the wooden false teeth, but it's the thought >that counts. I'm sure there are no wooden teeth in Abe Lincoln's statue. s/ meirman If you are emailing me please say if you are posting the same response. Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years Indianapolis, 7 years Chicago, 6 years Brooklyn NY 12 years Baltimore 20 years "meirman" typed: > "Part of Crown State (Mental) Hospital land was to be sold for > develoment, and I led a hike there to see it before home builders [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > who came on the hike turned me in, to the president and he too > thought it was serious. What weenies." [...] > Especially, how is the word viewed in America? > > Please omit answers based on the premise that vulgarities in general > are ok, so certainly this one is. Small, but phallic. Or, perhaps, that's just because I'm a pervert. SignatureAyaz Ahmed Khan Yours Forever in, | Webmaster, Cyberspace. | http://fast-ce.org/ _______________________________________________ I ditched Windows for Linux over two years ago. Life's never been better since. >"Part of Crown State (Mental) Hospital land was to be sold for >develoment, and I led a hike there to see it before home builders [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > Brooklyn NY 12 years > Baltimore 20 years Yes, but I doubt that Her Majesty ever heard the word, or would know what it means. I tend to shy away from it when writing because of the obvious sexual connotation. When I was a kid, that was what we called wieners, but it hadn't yet been applied to people. Somebody suggested "wimp"--Vicky didn't hear that one, either, and it brings to mind "limp," also sexual. Try "lame." She'd understand that, and as far as I know there's no sex involved. But using slang is by definition vulgar. Carter Born Dallas, TX, 17 years. US Navy, 4 years, much overseas DC, 2 years Chicago, 2 yrs. Innsbruck, Austira, 1 yr. Paris, Fr., 1 year Detroit, 1 yr. Ann Arbor, MI, 3 yrs. Central New Jersey, 7 yrs. (to be counted as wilderness) Boston, MA, too f.cking long to count, and it's too cold. Heavily influenced by reading Brit novels Disapprove of bare belly buttons, except in bedrooms Middle of the road on comma usage Still have slight Texas accent Yellow dog Democrat Carter Jefferson carterj98@mindspring.com http://carterj.homestead.com/ >Carter > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >Still have slight Texas accent >Yellow dog Democrat It's truly amazing what a simple little thing like a signature can tell one about somebody, if one is good at reading between the lines. Fr'instance, I can tell immediately that you've been around. Signaturewrmst rgrds Robin Bignall Quiet part of Hertfordshire England In alt.english.usage on Tue, 27 Jan 2004 17:11:28 GMT Carter Jefferson <carterj98@mindspring.com> posted: >Yes, but I doubt that Her Majesty ever heard the word, or would know >what it means. I tend to shy away from it when writing because of the >obvious sexual connotation. When I was a kid, that was what we called >wieners, but it hadn't yet been applied to people. Somebody suggested >"wimp"--Vicky didn't hear that one, either, and it brings to mind >"limp," also sexual. AHD4 says "[Perhaps from whimper.]" < Try "lame." She'd understand that, and as far as >I know there's no sex involved. But using slang is by definition >vulgar. [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] >carterj98@mindspring.com >http://carterj.homestead.com/ s/ meirman If you are emailing me please say if you are posting the same response. Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years Indianapolis, 7 years Chicago, 6 years Brooklyn NY 12 years Baltimore 20 years |
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