[Ads-l] blood in one's eye; hormonal; to "late-night angry-tweet"

[Joel Berson]

Comments interspersed.



Joel


________________________________
From: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU 
Sent: Sunday, August 9, 2015 10:24 AM
Subject: [ADS-L] blood in one's eye; hormonal; to "late-night angry-tweet"


I can't find this familiar idiom in OED, but 30 seconds of research finds an 1800 ex. in GB.

It mean's, of course, "intent on killing; (hence) intent on victory, revenge, etc."

For those who've been visiting the off-world colonies, Donald Trump told CNN Friday that, when questioning him in the debate, Megyn Kelly "had blood coming out of her eyes, coming out of her...wherever."


JSB:  I'm reassured to see that Jon, or whom he's quoting, also has the pause.

What Trump may have meant by "wherever" is now the hottest political topic
in America. It's completely overshadowing the issue of whether it's
presidential to fulminate a leading journalist for asking an embarrassing
question on TV - and calling her in tweets and retweets a "bimbo,"  the
"biggest loser of the night," "astonishingly biased," and "funny to watch."

Trump has also tweeted and repeated that only a "deviant" or a "sick
person" would interpret what he didn't say as referring to Kelly's, er, you
know.  He says he was thinking "ears" or "nose" but decided (wisely) to
move on.

(At least it's good to know that *I'm* not "sick" or a "deviant," since the
gross menopausal interpretation did not occur to me.  Nor, if you can
believe them, did it occur to my wife or to my two old grad school buddies
who've spent their careers in the law. Are they putting me on?)


JSB:  I'm also reassured (confirmed in my self-esteemation?) that I must be sick or deviant, since the menopausal interpretation immediately occurred to me, especially with the pause.  It may have also occurred to the Boston Globe, since in its quotation of Trump's "blood" utterance it did not go on from "blood coming out of her eyes" to include "coming out of her ... wherever."  


JSB:  It clearly occurred to some on the NYTimes -- online today, JONATHAN MARTIN and MAGGIE HABERMAN include the "wherever", although without its pause.  They are direct, uttering the M-word in their very first sentence -- "Donald J. Trump’s suggestion that a Fox News journalist had questioned him forcefully at the Republican presidential debate because she was menstruating cost him a speaking slot Saturday night at an influential gathering of conservatives in Atlanta."   (I don't find the "blood" quote in the online Times earlier than today.  Perhaps on Saturday it was uncertain about Trump's intent, or was too afraid of offending.)

JSB:  P.S.:  I don't believe Jon's wife or his two grad school (male?) buddies.  I think they were trying to give him the impression that they, like he, are not "sick".  :-)


But the second linguistic point is Trump's assertion that "blood coming out of [one's] eyes" is a "very common expression." (He repeated it today with "...pouring..."

News to me.  Is it a rare eggcorn for "blood in  one's eye," or is it really a "very common" eggcorn?


JSB:  I did take "coming out of" as equivalent to "in" (what was "in" is so copious it's overflowing), and I suspect Donald chose "coming" to parallel his later "coming out of ... wherever".

II
The mediopolitical word of the weekend is "hormonal."  It has been said
again and again that Trump meant Kelly was "hormonal" for asking him why he
has berated certain women who disagree with him as "fat pigs," "dogs," and
"animals." (Part 2 of the question was how Trump might defend himself
against Clintonian charges that he is "part of the War on Women)."

The new sense of "hormonal"  - 'affected by menopause; (hence) in a foul or 
aggressive mood' - isn't in OED *or* HDAS.


JSB:  "Hormonal" seems to be the news media's euphemism for "menstrual" (meaning "bloody"; although I don't see exactly this meaning in the OED).  And as readily interpretable as The Donald's "wherever."

...

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