Summer's Eve

I get by with a little help from my friends.

- The Beatles

My friends are hilarious! Every one of them is always curious about my love life, so I dispensed my most recent story on them. The story was met with a number of responses:

~ What a DOUCHE!
~ Douche bag!
~ Such is the way of the duchenarian.
~ You don't have time for that type of douchebagery.
~ Leave Douchey McDouche for someone else.


As you see, there is a common theme. However, an Australian friend stated that he was unfamiliar with the term, and one of the senders of the above said she didn't know what the literal definition was either. I'm a little shocked that this word is so frequently used in North American culture, but not everyone actually knows what it means. So, today's question is (I can't believe I'm actually writing about this... where is quality control?!): what is a douche bag?

A:

Okay, let me start off with how I explained it to my young Strayan friend.


Douche Bag: Colloquially, it is interchangeable with the word 'Jerk', 'dirt bag', etc.
Douche Bag: Literally, it's a device used to internally cleanse a vagina. Similar to an enema, but for lady-bits.



Let's see if I did a good job.


The Online Slang Dictionary defines it as:
1. A derogatory term, used most often to describe males; "jerk"

2. An excessively self-obsessed person, usually male.

3. A person who intentionally acts like a jerk to appear cool or to show off.

According to Dictionary.com, a douche bag is:

A small syringe having detachable nozzles for fluid injections, used chiefly for vaginal lavage and for enemas.

So, my explanation was pretty accurate! I don't know if I should be proud or a little embarrassed. (?)

PS. The name of this blog post is not a random one, it is in reference to a well known brand of douche - look it up.

*A special thank you to Bearded Eric of Eric Makes Masks for giving me permission to use his photo, and for the record, is definitely NOT a douche.

Foolish Games

I am two fools, I know,/For loving, and for saying so/

- The Tripple Fool

by John Donne

I have expressed this sentiment many times in the last 24 hours: I feel like a fool.

I feel foolish for misreading the signs and mistaking lust for love. I feel foolish that I did not immediately recognise that I was hanging my hopes on a pipe dream. I feel foolish for putting myself in this position. I feel that I should be put in the corner and made to wear the dunce cap - I have obviously not learned anything about relationships, romantic or otherwise, in the last couple of years.

Enough with the self-loathing. Today's question is: what is the origin of the word fool?



A: The word is Old French, originating in the 13th century meaning "madman" or "insane person" or in Vulgar Latin used with a sense of "windbag, empty-headed person". In the 14th century it was used to descibe a court jester, whether that be a professional entertainer or an amusing lunatic that was put on the payroll.

Ah, these foolish games...

Sources:
Dictionary.com - Fool
Online Etymology Dictionary

Get me a coffee, quick!

March 18, 2010

After my many Guinness’s and a very late night, I was in desperate need of a coffee. Well, actually, I would have like to throw a sicky, as I was in desperate need of some more sleep and perhaps a big breakfast fry-up. In any case, I complained to someone and they grabbed the nearest person, ordering “Get this woman a coffee, stat.” This got me wondering, I hear medical doctors on telly saying this all the time, and I have deduced what it means, but in any case, today’s question is: what does the word ‘stat’ mean?

A:
The word 'stat' is from the Latin word 'statim', which means immediately. It is more than likely used because modern medication got a good deal of its terminology from Latin, although most modern doctors just use 'now'.

Source:
The Straight Dope

Strop and a Half

March 6, 2010

This morning I woke up early to remove the last of my half of the furniture from my former home. I was tired, irritable and sad from having to sort through the detritus of my former life; the best way to describe my disposition was stroppy. In fact, for years I have rated my “strop factor” out of ten – I know that people think that I’m all rainbows and butterflies, but I too have bad days. Today’s question is: what is the origin of the word stroppy?

A: Stroppy is an informal British term for someone who is easily offended or annoyed and bad-tempered. The word is thought to be first used in the 1950s, originating from the word obstreperous; meaning to be unruly or resisting control or restraint in a difficult manner.

Today's strop factor: 3.67 (above average mood, a little tired)

Source:
American Psychological Association (APA):
stroppy. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved March 15, 2010, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stroppy

Striking Gold

February 28, 2010

Today was the last day of the Olympics and the Men’s Gold Medal Ice Hockey Game. Our Canadian boys did us proud and beat the US 3 to 2. The game took a disappointing turn with only 24 seconds left on the clock, when the United States scored their second goal, tying the game. But the Canadian fans were not disenchanted, as our young phenom, Sidney Crosby, won the game for us in overtime. What proceeded was pure magic; Canadians everywhere rejoiced in the streets and in pubs, singing and dancing and hugging their neighbours. Evidently, I got very carried away with the celebrations and ended up meeting up with someone that I haven’t seen in a long time, only to later regret my actions – no, it wasn’t my ex, but for inquiring minds, his name rhymes with today's question. But enough about that; back to the brilliant hockey game, although Crosby did not score all three goals, I started to wonder about the game terminology. So, today’s question is: where does the term ‘hat trick’ come from?

A:
The first use of this phrase was in cricket for the feat of a bowler who took three wickets with three successive balls, for which he would be presented with a new hat by the cricket club. Hat trick later came to be used for threefold feat in other sports such as horse racing, soccer, baseball, and hockey.

Sources:
http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/
http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/sayingsh.htm
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/2539

Familia

February 21, 2010

Sundays usually consist of going up to the suburbs to visit my parents for Sunday lunch. This has been a long standing tradition, yet I sometimes find it to be quite torturous. My mother is very critical and has an opinion on everything I do. My father, as lovely as he is, tends to lecture about everything and is a little socially inappropriate with his questions. I don’t have any complaints about my brother, who has been supportive and kind, but things can change. I figure that everyone has their issues with their family, be it parents, siblings or extended family, at some point. Today’s question is: where does the word family come from?

A: The word family first referred to the servants of a household and then to both the servants and the descendants of a common ancestor. It comes from the Latin word familia, meaning 'household; household servants', which came from another Latin term famulus, or 'servant'. It was not until 1667 that the term was used specifically for the group of persons consisting of parents and their children. The word daughter is a very old English word, first recorded c. 1000 as dohtor. It descends from Old English and is related to words in many other Indo-European languages, such as Greek thugater. The modern spelling daughter was first used in a 16th century Bible and was popularized by Shakespeare. The word son is quite a bit older, found in Beowulf in 645. It also descends from Old English and is related to words in many other Indo-European languages, such as Greek huios. Mother is one of the surviving words from Anglo-Saxon (starting as modor), which are among the most fundamental words in English. Mother has many cognates in other languages, including Old High German muoter, Dutch moeder, Old Norse mothir, Latin mater, Greek meter, and Sanskrit mat. These words share an Indo-European root. Father is derived from Latin pater and has cognates in many other languages; the word entered Old English as feder and foeder.

Source:
Dictionary.com