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Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010Hiassen: capped
Hello: "Capped her in the noodle" is this "shoot in the head" or "strike/punch on the head?" ---- [Someone was thrown in the ocean and the police discuss chances of the body resurfacing] "Karl, even if she floats up somewhere --" "Yes, I know." "-- unless her neck's been wrung or he capped her in the noodle --" Carl Hiaasen, Skinny Dip, p. 38 ---- -- Thanks. Marius Hancu In our last episode, <a2cccc14-b85b-44ee-a18f-697b5a95a383@28g2000vbf.googlegroups.com>, the lovely and talented Marius Hancu broadcast on alt.usage.english: > Hello: > "Capped her in the noodle" > is this > "shoot in the head" > or > "strike/punch on the head?" Shot in the head. Someone can be capped in any body part. The cap refers the bullet (possibly from the small explosive charge that propels the bullet), not to its striking a part of the body where a cap may be worn. bust a cap = expend a bullet, shoot I suppose in some context this might be extended to mean "strike" or "punch" in the same way that "shot" is sometimes extended to any kind of blow, but I do not know of any examples of such an extension, so it should be "shot" unless you have considerable reason to think otherwise. This is a curious combination of expressions. 'Cap' in this sense is relatively recent and urban. 'Noodle' is moribund in the sense of 'head.' I doubt 'noodle' is common in the patois in which 'cap' is likely. Either the author or the character is reaching in the attempt to be colorful or cute. > ---- > [Someone was thrown in the ocean and the police discuss chances of the > body resurfacing] > "Karl, even if she floats up somewhere --" > "Yes, I know." > "-- unless her neck's been wrung or he capped her in the noodle --" > Carl Hiaasen, Skinny Dip, p. 38 > ----  SignatureLars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> Warbama's Afghaninam day: 63 1525.0 hours since Warbama declared Viet Nam II. Warbama: An LBJ for the Twenty-First century. No hope. No change. >In our last episode, ><a2cccc14-b85b-44ee-a18f-697b5a95a383@28g2000vbf.googlegroups.com>, the [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] >doubt 'noodle' is common in the patois in which 'cap' is likely. Either the >author or the character is reaching in the attempt to be colorful or cute. At first I wondered whether it was " 'capped ", an abbreviation of an import from Ireland, "kneecapped". OED: kneecap v. trans., to shoot a person in the knee (or leg) as a form of punishment; so kneecapping vbl. n. 1975 Daily Tel. 12 Aug. 2/7 Man ‘kneecapped’ in Carrickfergus. 1975 Observer 8 June 4/3 Ulster's gunmen have found they can get hold of Government cash by giving victims a ‘knee-capping’ their grim colloquialism for a bullet in the legs... Kneecapping..has replaced tarring and feathering as the province's most common form of terrorist punishment... ‘This so-called kneecapping is really a misnomer, because the kneecap itself is rarely touched.’ The usage of the word has occasionally been extended to mean any non-lethal "punishment shooting" as in "What he did was so bad he's likely to be kneecapped in the head". >> ---- >> [Someone was thrown in the ocean and the police discuss chances of the [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >> Carl Hiaasen, Skinny Dip, p. 38 >> ---- SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) >> In our last episode, >> <a2cccc14-b85b-44ee-a18f-697b5a95a383@28g2000vbf.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] > non-lethal "punishment shooting" as in "What he did was so bad he's > likely to be kneecapped in the head". Then there's the story of the two IRA men who were walking down a street in Belfast and saw a man standing on a corner. One of them said to the other, "Do you think that man's an informer?" The other man said "I don't think so." The joke may have lost something in translation. The IRA men were speaking Irish, where "I don't think so" is "Ní ceapaim", which sounds very like "Knee cap 'im". SignatureJames >>> In our last episode, >>> <a2cccc14-b85b-44ee-a18f-697b5a95a383@28g2000vbf.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 51 lines] >speaking Irish, where "I don't think so" is "Ní ceapaim", which sounds >very like "Knee cap 'im". Good one. SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs, An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE >>In our last episode, >><a2cccc14-b85b-44ee-a18f-697b5a95a383@28g2000vbf.googlegroups.com>, the [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] > non-lethal "punishment shooting" as in "What he did was so bad he's > likely to be kneecapped in the head". Capped or to bust cap in America means to murder someone. It refers to the cap {ingnition charge} at the base of a cartridge that ignites the propoellent. It has no connection to the Euro practice of kneecapping and dates from the 19th century. > >>In our last episode, > >><a2cccc14-b85b-44ee-a18f-697b5a95a...@28g2000vbf.googlegroups.com>, the [quoted text clipped - 58 lines] > It refers to the cap {ingnition charge} at the base of a cartridge that > ignites the propoellent. "pop a cap" is a common form, too: He started talking trash, so I popped a cap in his a.s. On Feb 3, 3:35 pm, "sjdevn...@yahoo.com" <sjdevn...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > >>> "Capped her in the noodle" > > >>> is this [quoted text clipped - 55 lines] > "pop a cap" is a common form, too: He started talking trash, so I > popped a cap in his a.s. Thank you all. Marius Hancu > > "Capped her in the noodle" > > is this [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > from the small explosive charge that propels the bullet), not to its > striking a part of the body where a cap may be worn. Yes, I thought about that "cap." > bust a cap = expend a bullet, shoot > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > doubt 'noodle' is common in the patois in which 'cap' is likely. Either the > author or the character is reaching in the attempt to be colorful or cute. Thanks for these details. > > ---- > > [Someone was thrown in the ocean and the police discuss chances of the > > body resurfacing] > > "Karl, even if she floats up somewhere --" > > "Yes, I know." > > "-- unless her neck's been wrung or he capped her in the noodle --" Marius Hancu > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > Thanks. > Marius Hancu American slang for firing a weapon, its means to murder with a gun. |
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