s---k pot, 1805 (?)

[Jonathan Lighter]

Yes. I recall mutterings (no more than that) from my grandmother that "It
stinks!" was "not a nice expression."

Now it's seen, presumably, as a sissy euphemism for "It sucks!"

(Offensive children were occasionally called "stinkpots" in my playground.
Actual aroma was not an issue.  Sailing enthusiasts refer to motorboats as
"stinkpots.")

JL

On Tue, Sep 7, 2010 at 8:21 AM, Mark Mandel <thnidu at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Mark Mandel <thnidu at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: s---k pot, 1805 (?)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I'd forgotten till you brought it up, but my maternal grandmother (b. NYC
> ca. 1889) considered the word vulgar and reproached me for using it. These
> grandmaternal delicacies suggest a possible older tradition.
>
> m a m
>
> On Mon, Sep 6, 2010 at 3:17 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>
> > Alan Hartley pointed out to me the following:
> >
> > >>might "s---k" have been "stink-pot"?
> > >
> > >I think so. At the verb "stink", the OED says "Now implying violent
> > >disgust on the part of the speaker; in ordinary polite use avoided
> > >as unpleasantly forcible." One of my grandmothers refused to use the
> word.
> >
> > I assume his grandmother was not as far back as 1805, but perhaps the
> > editor of the newspaper had the same delicacy.  (Now if his
> > grandmother had served aboard a British or American naval vessel, it
> > would be a different story.)
> >
> > Joel
>  >
>
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