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Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2006Booked sold/whacked-job/slack
Hi everybody, I'm not sure about the meaning of the following (and the dictionary is of not much help): -I'm booked sold today -a whack-job -So cut me some slack I hope you can give me some hints. Thanks in advance, S. > I'm not sure about the meaning of the following (and the > dictionary is of not much help): > > -I'm booked sold today This should be "booked solid today", which is what someone who sees other people by appointment says when all their time is filled. It means "all my time slots for appointments are filled today" > -a whack-job See: <http://tinyurl.com/y8xrpj> This is The Urban Dictionary. It has four different definitions. > -So cut me some slack When you cut someone some slack, it means that you don't hold that person to the highest possible standard of performance. It's similar to what "give me a break" used to mean: "Please be kind and generous to me today. I'm having a bad day because [some serious negative event occurred in the requester's life]."  SignatureFranke: EFL teacher & medical editor Native speaker of American English; posting from Taiwan. Unmunged email: /at/easypeasy.com "Impatience is the mother of misery." 418928@cepsz.unizar.es filted: >Hi everybody, > >I'm not sure about the meaning of the following (and the dictionary is >of not much help): > >-I'm booked sold today Should be "booked solid"...means "my schedule is an unbroken mass of consecutive appointments".... >-a whack-job "Crazy".... >-So cut me some slack "Give me the benefit of the doubt"...the "slack" here alludes to tying someone up with rope; if the rope is completely tight there's no room to move around at all....r Signature"Keep your eye on the Bishop. I want to know when he makes his move", said the Inspector, obliquely. > 418928@cepsz.unizar.es filted: >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > tying someone up with rope; if the rope is completely tight there's > no room to move around at all....r I'm not sure that that's the right image. I take it that the one asking is tasked with tying something that will require stretching a rope from here to there, and the one being asked is furnishing them with a length of rope to do the task. The job will be much more difficult if the rope is just long enough to stretch and will be much easier if the second person cuts it a bit longer so that the first has some slack to work with. SignatureEvan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------ HP Laboratories |The mystery of government is not how 1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |Washington works, but how to make it Palo Alto, CA 94304 |stop. | P.J. O'Rourke kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com (650)857-7572 http://www.kirshenbaum.net/ > > 418928@cepsz.unizar.es filted: > >> [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > easier if the second person cuts it a bit longer so that the first has > some slack to work with. The evidence is sketchy, but I think you've been misled by the word "cut" and there's not any cutting involved. The meaning is "give me some slack," and it doesn't matter what the endeavor is. Anyone sailing, fishing, ranching, mountain-climbing, or anything to do with ropes and chains, is going to want to ask another person at times to feed him some loose rope to ease the tension. Giving slack and taking up slack go way back. What doesn't go way back is "cutting" slack. I don't find any documentation specifically on "cut (some) slack," and Google Books records indicate it basically didn't exist until the 1980s. ("When the Evil Shredder attacks...") It does mention this one entry with no quotation provided: Idioma: International Modern Language Review 1964 Page 58 No preview available But what I can find is the entry in RHHDAS for "cut": 15a. to favor with; to give I'm not going to copy all the citations, but in short: 1972 to cut him a C [hundred dollars] 1972 cut us a break 1987 I'm going to cut you people a break 1987 similar 1987 similar So, what I think this works out to be is that "Cut me some slack" is just a recent synonym of the long-said "Give me some slack." But used in figuratively, interpersonally, not in the world of actual ropes and tension. Can we do better? I rather expect African-American roots (civil rights/Black Power...) SignatureBest -- Donna Richoux > -I'm booked sold today This means fully occupied, as in the appointment calendar of a doctor's office, sale of theatre or airline seats etc. -- i.e. receptionist's jargon. > -a whack-job "Whack" = murder in US criminal slang; not to be confused with wacko = crazy. > -So cut me some slack Means "please make allowances": used to seek extra privileges or a delay in meeting some obligation. SignatureDon Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) >> -I'm booked sold today > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >"Whack" = murder in US criminal slang; >not to be confused with wacko = crazy. But it *is* used to mean "crazy". The subject of "She's a whack-job" is still living, but considered to be nutso. Spelled "whack-job" or "wack-job", it can still mean crazy. Put "it's" in front of "whack-job", and it becomes a mob hit. SignatureTony Cooper Orlando, FL |
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