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Discussion Groups / English Usage / July 2009What is a goof?
The way I was brought up, "to goof" was to make an error, like Goofy, Mickey Mouse's dog. I've been told that it now means a much more serious error, as in to sexually corrupt a minor. Is this now the standard meaning? Or is it localized in jail? I was just constructing a list of poison words, and that one occurred to me. On 28 May 2009, Bohgosity BumaskiL wrote > The way I was brought up, "to goof" was to make an error, like > Goofy, Mickey Mouse's dog. I've been told that it now means a > much more serious error, as in to sexually corrupt a minor. Is > this now the standard meaning? No, it's not; in common usage it still means "to make a stupid mistake". > Or is it localized in jail? It's certainly used as a slang word amongst various sub-groups -- for example, it means "to dope with drugs" (presumably linked to "goofball", which is both a stupid person and a term for a type of drug); I can see how it could be adopted to refer to sexually corrupting a minor, but that's not its mainstream meaning.  SignatureCheers, Harvey CanEng and BrEng, indiscriminately mixed Quoth Bohgosity BumaskiL <brewhaha@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca>, and I quote: >The way I was brought up, "to goof" was to make an error, like Goofy, >Mickey Mouse's dog. I've been told that it now means a much more >serious error, as in to sexually corrupt a minor. Is this now the >standard meaning? Or is it localized in jail? I was just constructing >a list of poison words, and that one occurred to me. Did you mean "prison words"? I see from the Urban Dictionary that it's a term for the lowest form of prison life, the child molestor: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=goof I've never heard it in a British context. This gives a whole new meaning to "Wake Up, Little Susie": "I told your mama that you'd be in by ten Well Susie baby looks like we goofed again" SignatureJames [...] > I see from the Urban Dictionary that it's [sc. goof] a term for the > lowest > form of prison life, the child molestor: > http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=goof > > I've never heard it in a British context. The BrPrisonE word for a child "molester" is "nonce". > This gives a whole new meaning to "Wake Up, Little Susie": > > "I told your mama that you'd be in by ten > Well Susie baby looks like we goofed again" Ooo-er! SignatureMike. Quoth "Mike Lyle" <mike_lyle_uk@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk>, and I quote: >[...] >> [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >The BrPrisonE word for a child "molester" is "nonce". Funny you should say that. I just heard it this evening while watching an old episode of "Waking the Dead". On the subject of nonce words, here's a misuse by Bill Bryson, cited in the OED: "1990 B. BRYSON Mother Tongue vi. 91 Germans, suffering a similar problem with zwei and drei, introduced the nonce word zwo, for two, to deal with such misunderstandings." And back to the newer sense of nonce: "I refuse to listen to anything by Gary Glitter," said Tom ____________. SignatureJames James Hogg filted: >And back to the newer sense of nonce: >"I refuse to listen to anything by Gary Glitter," >said Tom ____________. "in his heyday" ....r SignatureA pessimist sees the glass as half empty. An optometrist asks whether you see the glass more full like this?...or like this? Quoth R H Draney <dadoctah@spamcop.net>, and I quote: >James Hogg filted: >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > "in his heyday" It's one word, an adverb ending in -ly and starting with a negative prefix. SignatureJames > Quoth Bohgosity BumaskiL <brewh...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca>, and I > quote: [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > I've never heard it in a British context. I have heard former prison inmates use it in Canada as an insult and was told it was one of the worst prision insults but I don't know if it indicated a child molester or not. It would seem quite possible since that is one of the worst offences to an inmate and can get you very dead in a prison. John Kane Kingston ON Canada > Quoth Bohgosity BumaskiL <brewh...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca>, and I > quote: [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > -- > James Poison words and prison words are pretty much the same thing, except, as I read it, in the case of "goof". Using poison words can get your site ranked lower on some databases and delisted on others. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/user:Cluebot searches for them, and if it runs into a lot of them, then it does a reversion. _______ <a href="http://ecn.ab.ca/~brewhaha/">BrewJay's Babble Bin</a> Bohgosity BumaskiL skrev: > The way I was brought up, "to goof" was to make an error, like Goofy, > Mickey Mouse's dog. Side remark: Mickey's dog is Pluto, and Goofy is his friend (who has been shaped pretty much like a dog). SignatureBertel, Denmark > Bohgosity BumaskiL skrev: > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Side remark: Mickey's dog is Pluto, and Goofy is his friend (who > has been shaped pretty much like a dog). As a youn cartoon viewer in the 50s/60s I used to get very confused between Goofy, Pluto and Bluto (Popeye's arch-enemy). Mike M >> Bohgosity BumaskiL skrev: >> [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >As a youn cartoon viewer in the 50s/60s I used to get very confused >between Goofy, Pluto and Bluto (Popeye's arch-enemy). When my daughter was about 2 years old we visited a relative who had painted Goofy on the wall of his kids' playroom and said to her "Look, there's Gooft" and she replied "Goofy goofy gander". SignatureSteve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk > > Bohgosity BumaskiL skrev: > > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > As a youn cartoon viewer in the 50s/60s I used to get very confused > between Goofy, Pluto and Bluto (Popeye's arch-enemy). And you were spared the confusion of Gaston Lagaffe, (almost untranslated into English) except for a brief episode as Gomer Goof, Jan On May 28, 8:49 am, Bohgosity BumaskiL <brewh...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca> wrote: > The way I was brought up, "to goof" was to make an error, like Goofy, > Mickey Mouse's dog. I've been told that it now means a much more > serious error, as in to sexually corrupt a minor. Is this now the > standard meaning? Or is it localized in jail? I was just constructing > a list of poison words, and that one occurred to me. The mainstream meaning as a verb is still to make a mistake. I've never encountered the other meanining you cite. As a noun, the word means a person who makes you laugh, usually because of his mistakes. That is, it is a person you laugh at, not with. Jim Deutch (JimboCat) -- That which does not destroy us has made its last mistake. -- Unspoken motto of the pantope crew >On May 28, 8:49 am, Bohgosity BumaskiL ><brewh...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca> wrote: [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >because of his mistakes. That is, it is a person you laugh at, not >with. And his friends called Neal Cassady the holy goof. SignatureSteve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk >The way I was brought up, "to goof" was to make an error, like Goofy, >Mickey Mouse's dog. I've been told that it now means a much more >serious error, as in to sexually corrupt a minor. Is this now the >standard meaning? Or is it localized in jail? I was just constructing >a list of poison words, and that one occurred to me. Goofy is not Mickey Mouse's dog; Goofy is Mickey's friend. Pluto is Goofy's dog. Goofy animated cartoons show him making serious faux pas and wild missteps, i.d., many goofs. Signature************* DAVE HATUNEN (hatunen@cox.net) ************* * Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow * * My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps * >The way I was brought up, "to goof" was to make an error, like Goofy, >Mickey Mouse's dog. I've been told that it now means a much more >serious error, as in to sexually corrupt a minor. Is this now the >standard meaning? Or is it localized in jail? I was just constructing >a list of poison words, and that one occurred to me. My understanding is the one you grew up with. SignatureSteve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk |
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