"stink up the room"

[Laurence Horn]

I've usually heard/read it as "stink/stank up the joint".  A quick and dirty g-comparison shows

stink up the joint:  522K
stink up the room: 157K

Perhaps they didn't want to use "joint" because that would invoke "drugs" and hence "steroids".

LH


On Oct 29, 2011, at 1:25 PM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:

> Huh? Doesn't this just mean they stank so bad everyone in the room
> could smell 'em??
>
> DanG
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Oct 29, 2011, at 12:24 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      "stink up the room"
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> 'To present vexing difficulties or distractions.'
>>
>> CNN reports that in the midst of the Cards'  dramatic drive to the
>> pennant and the World's Championship, "The Braves began stinking up
>> the room."
>>
>> JL
>>
>> --
>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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