So. Which of the following are too salacious for casual use: "sucks", "bites", "who's your daddy?"
FWIW, I have been chronicling the Boston Globe's censors by how they quote their baseball players. (The writers are not adroit enough to avoid direct quotations that include unprintables, so they put in [bracketed euphemisms].)
"Bites" has not been an issue, but "I don't give a shit" became "I don't give a [care]" -- that latter construction being unique to the Northeast, to my knowledge.
Someone said in September that, "Contrary to popular opinion, the Yankees don't suck", which became "...the Yankees don't [inhale excessively]". That one made me laugh and laugh, because I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was meant by the euphemism.
Whereas, both the original Pedro Martinez "daddy" quote, and the annoying chanting, perforce got full quotation in the newspapers (having gone out over national airwaves, maybe there was no point in censorship by then).
The best part is when swear words are integral to understanding what is going on (like, who said what, when, in an argument that leads to ejections/suspensions), and the poor columnists/commentators are not allowed to describe exactly what is what. Peter Gammons once explained a fight between a batter and an umpire by referring to "a twelve-letter expletive" that I am sure caused his readers to dive for the American Dictionary of Slang. (The word in question was motherfucker.)
I associate "who's your daddy?" as a sexual boast, said during the moment -- "am I giving you a great time, or what?"
I have no idea if drag kings say "who's your daddy?".
Peter Gammons once explained a fight between a batter and an umpire by referring to "a twelve-letter expletive" that I am sure caused his readers to dive for the American Dictionary of Slang. (The word in question was motherfucker.)
Crash must have called him a "cocksucker".
So. Which of the following are too salacious for casual use: "sucks", "bites", "who's your daddy?"
The author of the article thinks 1 and 3 are okay, but 2 is too much.
Interesting. I, personally, have no problem with "sucks" OR "bites," but I would have thought that those who DO find such things salacious would have objected to "sucks" before they would have objected to "bites."
My reasoning: all I can think of for "sucks" is blow job, and not in the good way; more in the "suck it, bitch!" way. For "bites," I think of (and mean it as, when *I* say it) "This is a bite in the ass!"
"I don't give a [care]" -- that latter construction being unique to the Northeast, to my knowledge.
FWIW, I've also heard this phrase in the Midwest.
"Contrary to popular opinion, the Yankees don't suck", which became "...the Yankees don't [inhale excessively]". That one made me laugh and laugh, because I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was meant by the euphemism.
Comes across as a drug reference to me.
An acquaintance of mine once had to explain the connotations of "who's your daddy?" to a clueless straight gym buddy in order to make him stop using the phrase while spotting people on the weight bench.
Oh! You know what's good? The Rattle Bag edited by Seamus Heany and Ted Hughes.
This is my favorite poetry anthology ever.
An acquaintance of mine once had to explain the connotations of "who's your daddy?" to a clueless straight gym buddy in order to make him stop using the phrase while spotting people on the weight bench.
Heh. Once you've seen the leather bears all lined up at the Folsom Street Fair you understand this is not a term to be used lightly.
So is "who's your daddy"? originally a gay phrase? That would make so much more sense.
I was once very suprised when people were appalled (to the point of walking out of the theatre) at a teenager (17 year old) saying "It Bites. It Bites the bog one" in a monologue. I think my offensive-o-meter is broken, though. I once really creatively replaced all the "major" (fuck. piss. bitch, cunt) in a play and then got reamed by the administration for the "Oh My God!'s I replaced them with.
