Dead Donkey Ears

[Gregory {Greg} Downing]

At 12:22 PM 10/5/2000 EDT, Barry Popik wrote:
>   In the WALL STRET JOURNAL EUROPE, 4 October 2000, pg. 1, col. 1, a Russian
>declares that his creditors deserve "dead donkey ears."  That is, nothing.
>

There's kind of a silly curse that pops up occasionally on bathroom walls in
the U.S., to the effect that "x [person, thing] sucks dead donkey dicks." I
don't know what the exact logic of the phrase is, beyond the obvious sonic
effects and the not exactly subtle attempt to degrade, but perhaps there is
some kind of connection with the phrase you cite -- if not a genetic
connection then maybe just a conceptual overlap, i.e., the "dead donkey"
image as degrading.


Greg Downing, at greg.downing at nyu.edu or gd2 at is2.nyu.edu