that sucks

[Dennis Preston]

That's what I was trying to say, and I suspect the timing is very
similar, maybe early 60's for me.

dInIs

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>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
>Subject:      Re: that sucks
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>
>"THERE IS NO GRAVITY--THE UNIVERSE SUCKS" is the way that I first saw
>it, as a graffito in pencil on the outside wall of the mess hall at
>Fort Devens, MA, in November of 1959. I took it as a pun based on
>"suck" = perform fellatio. That is, gravity can be conceived of
>literally as a form of sucking, but "sucking" brings to mind
>"performing fellatio" and gravity *can't* be conceived of literally as
>a form of sucking in *that* sense and, if you *try* to conceive of it
>that way, you have to laugh.
>
>You know, the *only* other place that I've ever come across this is in
>any form is here in ADS-L discussions.
>
>Weird.
>
>-Wilson
>
>On Thu, Mar 27, 2008 at 8:07 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
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>>   Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>   Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>   Subject:      Re: that sucks
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>>   At 7:55 PM -0400 3/27/08, RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:
>>   >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."
>>
>>   Wasn't the full quote
>>
>>   THERE IS NO GRAVITY--THE UNIVERSE SUCKS
>>
>>   or "THE EARTH SUCKS", depending on your theory?
>>
>>   LH
>>
>>
>>
>>   >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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>>   >Home.
>>   >
>>(http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15&
>>   >ncid=aolhom00030000000001)
>>   >
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>
>
>--
>All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
>come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>-----
>  -Sam'l Clemens
>
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--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
Morrill Hall 15-C
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48864 USA

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