LL-L "Etymology" 2008.06.15 (04) [D/E]

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From: denis dujardin <dujardin at telenet.be>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2008.06.15 (01) [D/V]

Hallo,
In de streek van Waregem gebruikt men "met de hond naar de smidse gaan" (to
go with the dog to the smithery).......
Wat de betekenis daarvan is, ontgaat me volledig.

Denis Dujardin
Kortrijk.(WVL)

*Denis Dujardin*
*Omgevingen*
*www.denisdujardin.be*
*0475723159*

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
 Subject: Etymology

Hello, Denis!

It's great to hear from you again.

I don't think any real meaning is intended with phrases like the one you
mention (as also in American English "to see a man about a horse" or "to see
a man about a dog"). They are taboo phrase replacements, the taboo being
explicitness in "polite" company about going to the bathroom ... uh, toilet.
However, since everyone knows what is really meant (as also in phrases like
"to wash one's hand", 'to freshen up" and "to powder one's nose") people
have put comical spins on some of these phrases, and making them sound
nonsensical and thus absurd is part of the fun.

As for American English "to see a man about a horse" or "to see a man about
a dog," these began during the alcohol prohibition era and used to have a
different meaning: to visit a bootlegger in order to buy liquor. So these
mean "I will be absent for a while," and this was later transferred to the
meaning of "I am about to visit the bathroom."

All of these phrases belong to the large category of euphemisms. Euphemisms
can be single words or whole phrases. They are a type of "doublespeak."
These particular types belong to the narrower category of indirections, i.e.
indirect references to something that for some reason or other ought not be
said. Furthermore, they are of the jocular and nonsensical types. It's not
actually a case of hidden meaning, since people know what the meaning is.

We use such euphemistic phrases all the time, though we aren't always aware
of it. In English, there examples like these:

to drop the kids off at the pool = to visit the bathroom < toilet
to kick the bucket = to die
to pop one's clogs = to die

There are, however, jocular euphemistic phrases that are not nonsensical,
such as Dutch *van de verkeerde kant* ("from the wrong side") 'homosexual',
*naar het kleinste kamertje* ("to the smallest room") 'to the bathroom' (=
toilet), and *proletarisch winkelen* ("proletarian shopping") 'theft'; also
English:

little boy's/girl's (room) = bathroom (= toilet)
to play for the other team = to be homosexual
to play for both teams = to be bisexual
to score = to get to have sex
to have a bun in the oven = to be pregnant

As you can see, these are more explicit.

In American English, "to go to the bathroom" is used so commonly that it no
longer needs to refer to a trip or visit but can refer to the actual act of
excretion; such as in "I'm sick and tired of the neighbor's dog going to the
bathroom on our front lawn" or "Little Billie went to the bathroom in the
swimming pool."

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

•

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