GalacticCactus Forum
Forums => English & Linguistics => Topic started by: The Genuine on July 30, 2008, 11:42:40 AM
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It's been discussed on the fora how "dork" is a phallic reference. Along those lines, is "suck" a vulgar term when used in a sentence such as "This movie sucks" ?
If not a reference to fellatio, what's the origin of "suck" as a word of negative connotation?
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That is the origin of the word "suck".
Also, we've discussed such things multiple times in the past. You're not breaking any new ground here.
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I suspect I'd have a rather difficult time breaking new ground when asking about linguistics around here.
What I saw in the dictionary was that the root word had to do with suckling, as in breastfeeding, and was related to soaking, or infusing with moisture. I didn't see a fellatio connection.
However, when used in a negative sense, it is related to fellatio? I could also see it being a reference to the immature and weak baby state of a suckler.
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I can't find a link, but there was an NPR piece I listened to a bit ago that talked about vulgar words and how their usage changes over time. The linguist they were talking to said something to the effect of "For example, back when I was a kid, when you said "you suck", everybody knew what it meant that you were sucking. But today, the original sexual meaning of the word has largely disappeared."
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But what were you sucking when you said "you suck"? Isn't sucking a teet demeaning as well?
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However, when used in a negative sense, it is related to fellatio?
etymonline (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=suck) says yes, but who knows where they got that information.
The Oxford English Dictionary is the place to look since they record every use of a word, even obsolete ones. If the negative sense had to do with fellatio at one point, they might know.
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The OED doesn't explicitly say—at least not that I can see—that usages like "This movie sucks" descend from suck meaning "to practice fellatio." When a word has as many meanings as "suck" does, it can be difficult if not impossible to tell which came from which. You can't exactly go back in time and ask speakers or writers which particular meaning they intended, and you can only infer so much from context and relative timelines.
That said, the "fellatio" meaning seems to date to the early 20th century, while there are meanings like "to draw the goodness from" or "to rob of resources" that go back to to the 16th century. There's also a definition for the noun "suck" (sometimes "suck-in") meaning "a deception; a disappointing event or result" that dates to the mid-19th century and an expression of contempt "sucks to you!" that dates to the early 20th century. These all predate the "fellatio" sense, and they also seem more in line with the meaning of "this sucks."
In light of all that, I think it's possible or even likely that this meaning of "sucks" did not originate from the "fellatio" sense, though I think they became conflated at some point. Of course, later generations seem to have lost that association.
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I've heard the insult (although not lately), "Your grandmother sucks eggs".
I have no idea what that means.
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Well, there's the phrase "egg-sucking dog", which I believe has farmyard origins.
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My mom would never let us say "this sucks" when we were growing up. Only later did I discover what she was objecting to.
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an expression of contempt "sucks to you!" that dates to the early 20th century.
I have only ever heard (and possibly used) "sucks to be you.
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I wonder if "shucks" is related to "sucks".
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Maybe, but it's hardly used the same way, no?
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No, but I still wonder.
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Shucks the interjection comes from the noun shuck, meaning "a husk, pod, or shell," according to the OED. It then came to mean something worthless and then evolved into the interjection we know today.
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Aw, shucks.