For Better or for Worse

[Baker, John]

        The Comics Curmudgeon blog, http://joshreads.com/, discusses this strip.  According to one of the comments, the slang terms are indeed made up.  Notwithstanding which, I note that one of the definitions for "gig" at UrbanDictionary.com is a "scandolous female...a slut" [sic].

        The wording seems a little odd.  "Hands on" suggests, to me, something short of intercourse, while "been there" presumably means that the 14-year-old has lost her virginity and "gig" sounds like she's sexually active.  "Roadside" is, to me, opaque, or at least would be out of context.


John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
Of Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2005 6:49 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: For Better or for Worse


These odd terms seem to be made up.

JL (with no credibility)

"Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Baker, John"
Subject: For Better or for Worse
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Today's For Better or for Worse comic strip uses a number of slang terms that are unfamiliar to me. I don't know if that's because the strip is set in Ontario, or if it's because I'm an old fogey, but I suspect the latter. Two teenagers are discussing a friend:


April: Becky thinks she's so hot because she's going out with a guy in grade 12.

Duncan: Yeah, she's hangin' high!

April: She's only just turned 14. What would a guy who's 17 see in her?!

Duncan: You're kidding me, right?

Duncan: April, Becky is "hands on" . . . She's a "gig"! She's "roadside," man!

April: You mean . . . she's "been there"?

Duncan: Yeah . . . an' once you've "been there," you ain't comin' back!


The strip is at http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/000938.php.


John Baker


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