that sucks

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

I'm not sure what it is that Dennis is remembering here from his adolescence;
"X sucks" = 'X stinks' was not in use in the 50s, and not widely used until
the late 60s and early 70s. Sounds like post facto codger etymoloogizing to me!

If my memory is correct, people did sometimes say things like, "Does she
suck?" meaning "Will she fellate one?"--but it was used only for people.

I am about the same age as Dennis, and like him I remember being confused in
the late 1960s at something someone had written on a bathroom wall: "The
Universe sucks." But not merely because I could not imagine the universe fellating
someone--this use of 'sucks' simply did not compute with ANY of my known uses
of "suck" ("suck up to," "suck the gravied finger," "suck eggs," etc.)--except
that they all were pejorative. There was no reason for me to focus on oral
sex (and I think I have as dirty a mind as Dennis!).


In a message dated 3/27/08 6:39:47 PM, preston at MSU.EDU writes:


> Us 50's kids (well, teenagers) knew exactly what sexual act was
> referred to; the first time we saw "The earth sucks," we didn't know
> quite what to make of it.
>
> dInIs
>




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