USA Today on "sucks"

[Wilson Gray]

Once upon a time, was there not a common derogatory expression, "suck
wind"? That would give "suck" a clean origin. In the military, there
was "suck the green wienie" and "suck ass." But, AFAIK, these terms
postdate "suck wind."

-Wilson

On 9/29/05, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: USA Today on "sucks"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 2:59 PM -0400 9/29/05, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
> >USA Today has two articles on the shifting semantic status of "X sucks",
> >including commentary from Ron Butters. My only quibble is that the writers
> >imply that "sucks" *always* had an obscene connotation, when the evidence
> >(AFAIK) shows that the presumed sexual meaning only developed after the
> >expression had gained some popularity.
> >
>
> How about a quibble or two with this claim from the second article,
> with particular reference to a much loved topic, the history of
> "jazz"?
>
>
> >"This is very common," e-mails Robert Leonard, professor of linguistics at
> >Hofstra University. " 'Enthusiasm' used to mean, at the time of the
> >Declaration of Independence, 'spirit possession.' Meanings change. 'Rock
> >'n' roll' and 'jazz' both started as terms for sexual intercourse and were
> >slangy ways to refer to the musical forms. Now they just refer to the
> >musical forms for the vast majority."
>


--
-Wilson Gray