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Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2009"Getting slack" meaning "being teased"
News-story description on Yahoo: "The final pick of this year's NFL draft is used to getting slack for his last name." (His name is Ryan Succop, pronounced "suck-up". http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-chiefs-succop&prov=ap&type=lgns ) "Getting slack" means "getting teased"? There are some definitions at the Urban Dictionary of "slack" as "harsh" (as calling somebody fat--that's said to be limited to Birmingham and Solihull) or nasty that might be related. -- Jerry Friedman > News-story description on Yahoo: > "The final pick of this year's NFL draft is used to getting slack for > his last name." > (His name is Ryan Succop, pronounced "suck-up". > http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-chiefs-succop&prov=ap&type=lgns > "Getting slack" means "getting teased"? "flack"  SignaturePurl Gurl -- This is to the native American poster who I believe to be a woman, but for some reason is gotten up like Groucho Marx: Excuse me? -- Margo Howard, 11/19/2008 Purl Gurl filted: >> News-story description on Yahoo: > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > >"flack" I'm inclined to agree..."getting slack" means getting away with things others might not, just about the opposite of the definition Mr Friedman suggests...slack is a commodity much prized by the Church of the Sub-Genius.... Maybe the NFL guys thought they saw the word written with one of those "long s" things the Federalists were so fond of....r SignatureA pessimist sees the glass as half empty. An optometrist asks whether you see the glass more full like this?...or like this? >Purl Gurl filted: >> [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] >Maybe the NFL guys thought they saw the word written with one of those "long s" >things the Federalists were so fond of....r I also immediately thought of "flack". However, "getting flack" is usually a bit more 'severe' than "getting teased". It's "being criticised". For example. at the moment, the UK MPs are "getting a load of flack" about their outrageous expense claims. SignatureIan >>Purl Gurl filted: >>> [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] >criticised". For example. at the moment, the UK MPs are "getting a load >of flack" about their outrageous expense claims. In the sense of "(A barrage of) abuse, adverse criticism" [OED] the spelling is "flak" from the German "FLiegerAbwehrKanone" pilot-defence-gun (my capitalisation). OED does have "flack": A blow, slap, or stroke. The most recent quotation is: a1825 FORBY Voc. E. Anglia, Flack, a blow, particularly with something loose and pliant. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) >News-story description on Yahoo: > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >"harsh" (as calling somebody fat--that's said to be limited to >Birmingham and Solihull) or nasty that might be related. That line doesn't appear in the article that was linked. It does appear in the "comments". Evidently, the article has been edited. Even in the "comments", it's pointed out that "slack" is probably a typo for "flack". And "flack" makes sense in the context. SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida > On Sun, 10 May 2009 23:00:17 -0700 (PDT), Jerry Friedman > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > That line doesn't appear in the article that was linked. No, as I said, it was a description of the article. I just saw it a moment ago, still with "slack", at http://www.yahoo.com/ The articles linked on that page change fairly often (every few hours?), though, so I'm not guaranteeing it will still be there when anyone else looks. > It does > appear in the "comments". Evidently, the article has been edited. Still there with "slack" at yahoo.com > Even in the "comments", it's pointed out that "slack" is probably a > typo for "flack". And "flack" makes sense in the context. I didn't look at the comments or think of "flak". Like Ian Jackson, I've heard "flak" as criticism, not kidding about something that's obviously not the target's fault. However, now that you and Purl Gurl mention it, extending the meaning that way wouldn't surprise me. Two typos in a word that short would surprise me, though. -- Jerry Friedman >I didn't look at the comments or think of "flak". Like Ian Jackson, >I've heard "flak" as criticism, not kidding about something that's >obviously not the target's fault. However, now that you and Purl Gurl >mention it, extending the meaning that way wouldn't surprise me. Two >typos in a word that short would surprise me, though. I think that "flack", or "flak" (dictionary.com approves of both) is no longer just hostile criticism. Giving someone flack is just giving someone a hard time. Kids will claim that their teachers give them flack about things, and they will claim that their parents yell at them. That "flack" may be just "you better do better" and that "yelling" may be just a slightly raised voice. I dunno which is the most common spelling, but the spelling "flak" goes back to 1935-1940 and the German Fl(ieger)a(bwehr)k(anone) anti-aircraft gun. But, since it sounds like "flack", it would be no wonder that most young people would spell if "flack". Few of Succup's age would have seen it in print. SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida > On Mon, 11 May 2009 10:27:44 -0700 (PDT), Jerry Friedman > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > I think that "flack", or "flak" (dictionary.com approves of both) Appalling. > is no longer just hostile criticism. Giving someone flack is just giving > someone a hard time. New to me, as I said, but not surprising, and only slightly appalling > Kids will claim that their teachers give them > flack about things, and they will claim that their parents yell at > them. That "flack" may be just "you better do better" But that's a lot closer to the "hostile criticism" meaning--the teacher is saying there's something wrong with what the student's doing. The sense I didn't know is making fun of someone for something they can't help. But they're both giving the person a hard time, as you say, and for those who know they etymology, they can both be compared to getting shot at. > and that "yelling" may be just a slightly raised voice. That's certainly been going on since my childhood, at least, and often leads to someone yelling, "I'm not yelling!" I've heard something I carefully said in a quiet voice (not to disturb the other students) described as "yelling at" the person. (I told a student not to come to labs late, as that meant her partners had to do part of her work.) > I dunno which is the most common spelling, but the spelling "flak" > goes back to 1935-1940 and the German Fl(ieger)a(bwehr)k(anone) > anti-aircraft gun. But, since it sounds like "flack", it would be no > wonder that most young people would spell if "flack". Few of Succup's > age would have seen it in print. We don't know anything about the person at Yahoo who wrote that line, though it does seem likely that someone who used "fla(c)k" in this extended sense would be fairly young, maybe around Succop's age. -- Jerry Friedman > On May 11, 12:29 pm, tony cooper <tony_cooper...@earthlink.net> > wrote: [quoted text clipped - 48 lines] > this extended sense would be fairly young, maybe around Succop's > age. My dog recognizes when I'm yelling by the tone of my face. I have taken "getting flak" as being in a position whose virtues are uncertain, and implying that a correct localization of some or any of the flak fragments could result in a deflation of that position. "Getting slack" in my string of variegated milieux has always meant being held to lesser-than-usual standards, refraining from justified criticism or remonstrance. "Slagging" is relatively new to me, and if it means what I think it does, it may be related to "flak" and, in the way "bad" as "good" and "bad" as "not good" are related, to "slack" as well. SignatureFrank ess >"Slagging" is relatively new to me, and if >it means what I think it does, it may be related to "flak" and, in the >way "bad" as "good" and "bad" as "not good" are related, to "slack" as >well. OED: slag, v. 3. trans. To abuse or denigrate (a person); to criticize, insult. Also with off. slang. 1971 J. MANDELKAU Buttons v. 75 He was doing a good job of bad mouthing and slagging me to a number of the Angels. and: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/slag_off slag off 1. (British, slang, transitive, idiomatic) To talk insultingly to or about someone or something. and: http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/s.htm slag (someone) off Verb. To verbally put down someone or something. E.g."If you are going to persistently slag off your friends you soon won't have any left to upset. OED gives the origin as being from the noun: slag, n.1 1. A piece of refuse matter (see 2) separated from a metal in the process of smelting. .... 5. slang. a. A worthless or insignificant person (freq. used as a term of contempt): spec. (a) a coward; (b) a rough or brutal person; (c) any objectionable or contemptible person; (d) a vagrant or a petty criminal; also, such persons collectively; (e) (the most usual sense) a prostitute or promiscuous woman; a slattern. b. Worthless matter, rubbish; nonsense. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) >>"Slagging" is relatively new to me, and if >>it means what I think it does, it may be related to "flak" and, in the [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > 1971 J. MANDELKAU Buttons v. 75 He was doing a good job of bad > mouthing and slagging me to a number of the Angels. While we're on terms for abusing people, in my youth in Wigan people would use "calling" to mean "insulting" (presumably from "calling names"). In one particular case I remember someone saying "he's got a piece of paper in his bag that calling me" (it was an insulting cartoon). How widespread is this? SignatureOnline waterways route planner: http://canalplan.org.uk development version: http://canalplan.eu >>>"Slagging" is relatively new to me, and if >>>it means what I think it does, it may be related to "flak" and, in the [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > >How widespread is this? In Nottingham we had "Sticks and stones may break my bones but calling cannot harm me", with the same interpretation of "calling". SignatureRobin (BrE) Herts, England >> Kids will claim that their teachers give them >> flack about things, and they will claim that their parents yell at [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >carefully said in a quiet voice (not to disturb the other students) >described as "yelling at" the person. The reason I included the "yelling" was to bring home the point of exaggeration. The student who says that the teacher gave him flack is often exaggerating what the teacher did. The teacher may have mildly commented that the student needs to do better, but the student reports this as "the teacher gave me flack". Any unwanted criticism can be flack, and all criticism is unwanted. It doesn't have to approach the hostile level to be unwanted or flack. SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida > > On Sun, 10 May 2009 23:00:17 -0700 (PDT), Jerry Friedman > [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > http://www.yahoo.com/ ... Now changed to "flak". -- Jerry Friedman > "Getting slack" means "getting teased"? In my experience, slack in this sense is given and taken (as in a rope), not gotten, and it's almost always qualified with an amount: taking some slack, giving him a lot of slack. ¬R Don't give me fla(c)k; cut me some slack. A variant on "getting flack" would be "getting stick". Otherwise, "slack" tends to be used (of a person) to mean "lazy", "unprofessional" or "slipshod". My teenaged daughters used "tight" to mean "mean" (in either sense - "stingy" or "ill-tempered"),"unfair" or "overly strict". It caused them much amusement that at their school they had two teachers whose surnames were "Tight" and "Slack" respectively - and their personalities were the opposite of their names. Mike M |
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