Re: Re: F**king-A

[Bob Haas]

Ron et al,

Take a look at the movie adaptation of _The Right Stuff_.  The phrase
is a favorite of Gus Grissom's, as portrayed by Fred Ward.  The final
"g" is not there, but it's seems pretty clear that he's saying
"Fuckin'-A, brother!" in one moment of solidarity with his Mercury
Astronaut peers.

I'd check in my copy of Wolfe's original text, but I think my brother
has it.  Fuckin'-A!

As for the translation, yeah, "damn, straight," or "Hell, yeah" or any
equivalent seems correct.

Cheers, Bob

On Wednesday, January 15, 2003, at 12:17  AM, RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:

> I always thought this was "Fuck An A" or "Fuck A Nay"--I never in my
> life
> heard a velar nasal here, always an alveolar nasal. The full phrase
> from the
> 1950s Iowa high school I attended was "Fuck-an-A John!" This meant
> about what
> "Right on!" meant in the 1970s, and translates roughly into what I
> hear as
> "Damn Straight" today.

"Wherever you go, there you are."
Bob Haas
Department of English
High Point University