Comments on: Gifts That Don’t Suck http://www.secretsofthecity.com/mnspeak/8807 A Daily Digest of Twin Cities News, Arts and Culture Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:50:22 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Dan Heilman http://www.secretsofthecity.com/mnspeak/8807#comment-23477 Dan Heilman Tue, 07 Feb 2006 22:27:54 +0000 #comment-23477 I'm old enough to remember when "sucks" was a fairly strong (if second-tier) epithet. How is the fact that it's now toothless enough to be used in advertising necessarily a bad thing? <br /> <br /> Saying something sucks is now no more or less offensive to most people than saying it stinks, or it's substandard, or it's unfortunate. I think the word has lost its ability to shock much more than we've lost our ability to be shocked. I’m old enough to remember when “sucks” was a fairly strong (if second-tier) epithet. How is the fact that it’s now toothless enough to be used in advertising necessarily a bad thing?

Saying something sucks is now no more or less offensive to most people than saying it stinks, or it’s substandard, or it’s unfortunate. I think the word has lost its ability to shock much more than we’ve lost our ability to be shocked.

]]> By: gerg http://www.secretsofthecity.com/mnspeak/8807#comment-23231 gerg Mon, 06 Feb 2006 15:47:50 +0000 #comment-23231 when i was an angst-ridden teenager, i used to be pretty fond of saying one thing or another "sucked." whenever my dad would hear me say it, he'd ask me to elaborate... he said that saying something "sucks" is just so vague and nondescriptive. i'm glad he used to do that because, though i still use the word, it's nice to have learned a few better, more accurate ways to express myself. if in 50 years the only way people can say they don't like something is that it sucks, we're not going to have a heck of a lot to talk about. when i was an angst-ridden teenager, i used to be pretty fond of saying one thing or another “sucked.” whenever my dad would hear me say it, he’d ask me to elaborate… he said that saying something “sucks” is just so vague and nondescriptive. i’m glad he used to do that because, though i still use the word, it’s nice to have learned a few better, more accurate ways to express myself. if in 50 years the only way people can say they don’t like something is that it sucks, we’re not going to have a heck of a lot to talk about.

]]> By: alexis http://www.secretsofthecity.com/mnspeak/8807#comment-23219 alexis Sun, 05 Feb 2006 19:27:41 +0000 #comment-23219 Pray tell, what is that thou speatheth of? Pray tell, what is that thou speatheth of?

]]> By: richg http://www.secretsofthecity.com/mnspeak/8807#comment-23216 richg Sun, 05 Feb 2006 18:40:33 +0000 #comment-23216 It's not pitiful at all. It's how language evolves. We (and by we I mean the general population, not just tweens, teens and twenty-somethings) use plenty of words that at one point were considered verboten in polite conversation. It’s not pitiful at all. It’s how language evolves. We (and by we I mean the general population, not just tweens, teens and twenty-somethings) use plenty of words that at one point were considered verboten in polite conversation.

]]> By: joe http://www.secretsofthecity.com/mnspeak/8807#comment-23215 joe Sun, 05 Feb 2006 18:34:29 +0000 #comment-23215 I'm not sure it's a "dumbing down." I think people are very desensitized to the hundreds of marketing messages that they encounter every day. Using "suck" seems to me another way advertisers tap the "counter culture," such as it is. Anything to stand out from the pack.<br /> <br /> Personally, I think it works in this case. Advertising should speak our language. If I asked you what you thought of some product you were really excited about, yould say something like, "it fucking rocks!" But we can't say what wew really mean, so we gradually, very gradually, push the envelope. I’m not sure it’s a “dumbing down.” I think people are very desensitized to the hundreds of marketing messages that they encounter every day. Using “suck” seems to me another way advertisers tap the “counter culture,” such as it is. Anything to stand out from the pack.

Personally, I think it works in this case. Advertising should speak our language. If I asked you what you thought of some product you were really excited about, yould say something like, “it fucking rocks!” But we can’t say what wew really mean, so we gradually, very gradually, push the envelope.

]]> By: StBoni http://www.secretsofthecity.com/mnspeak/8807#comment-23212 StBoni Sun, 05 Feb 2006 13:38:44 +0000 #comment-23212 Blame it on the "dumbing down of America". We've become less sensitive to slang, and particularly crass slang. It's pitiful. Blame it on the “dumbing down of America”. We’ve become less sensitive to slang, and particularly crass slang. It’s pitiful.

]]> By: rex http://www.secretsofthecity.com/mnspeak/8807#comment-23209 rex Sun, 05 Feb 2006 00:55:32 +0000 #comment-23209 <a href="http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_034192750.html" target="_blank">WCOO story</a> on sucking. WCOO story on sucking.

]]> By: alexis http://www.secretsofthecity.com/mnspeak/8807#comment-23205 alexis Sat, 04 Feb 2006 21:39:10 +0000 #comment-23205 <em>Linguists think the sexual connotation of "blow job" evolved from "blowoff", an expression meaning to finish off, to climax, to end. "Blowoff" in this sense is related to "blow off steam", to put an end to an emotionally frustrating experience. When a prostitute gave a client a blow job she was helping him blow off the steam of sexual arousal. In the 1930s, streetwalkers offered oral with the phrase, "I'll blow you off." It suggests "I'll cool you down," "I'll release your steam."</em><br /> <br /> (From a book I have called <em>Sexy Origins and Intimate Things</em>.) Linguists think the sexual connotation of “blow job” evolved from “blowoff”, an expression meaning to finish off, to climax, to end. “Blowoff” in this sense is related to “blow off steam”, to put an end to an emotionally frustrating experience. When a prostitute gave a client a blow job she was helping him blow off the steam of sexual arousal. In the 1930s, streetwalkers offered oral with the phrase, “I’ll blow you off.” It suggests “I’ll cool you down,” “I’ll release your steam.”

(From a book I have called Sexy Origins and Intimate Things.)

]]> By: jmullan http://www.secretsofthecity.com/mnspeak/8807#comment-23197 jmullan Sat, 04 Feb 2006 18:15:40 +0000 #comment-23197 I thought that this said <em>girls</em> that don't suck, and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. I thought that this said girls that don’t suck, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

]]> By: Lerice http://www.secretsofthecity.com/mnspeak/8807#comment-23189 Lerice Sat, 04 Feb 2006 07:02:53 +0000 #comment-23189 Showgirls, anyone? Showgirls, anyone?

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