crappy

[Jonathan Lighter]

Close, Garson, but no Dutch Masters.

"Being crappy" means "being unpleasant."  "*Getting crappy" (like "getting
shitty") would mean getting angry. Undoubtedly the latter is a
specialization of the former. I don't think anyone would say, "Being angry
to people to make them do things."

Many people employ "crap" as euphemism for "shit" (though others seem not
to think there's much difference).

JL


On Thu, Feb 6, 2014 at 4:06 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com
> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: crappy
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Jonathan Lighter:
> >
> > True, but you can't say "shitty" on broadcast TV. Yet. You can, moreover,
> > feel "shitty" as well as "crappy." And if you can be "shitty," you ought
> to
> > be able to be "crappy" too when you damn well feel like it.
> >
> > Ockham's Shaver suggests that Oz probably said "crabby." Yet there's no
> > reason at all why a synonymous "crappy" shouldn't exist as well.  And
> when
> > it does, you'll have read it here first.
>
> The following excerpt might contain example of the sense you are
> discussing:
>
> Year: 2008 (2006 copyright)
> Title: The Marriage Diaries: A Novel
> Author: Rebecca Campbell
> Page: 105
> (Google Books Preview)
>
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=DEC51Bbxr1YC&q=%22being+crappy%22#v=snippet&
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> I've begun to appreciate more what she did. All that being crappy to
> people to make them do things. And sacking people. And telling them
> they can't have any more money.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
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