tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post3900493694723538917..comments2024-02-19T07:51:46.118-05:00Comments on Throw Grammar from the Train: The pejoration of "douchebag"Janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03173219179480606941noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-12750149862540394572010-07-13T01:18:40.594-04:002010-07-13T01:18:40.594-04:00A delightful discussion of what once was a rather ...A delightful discussion of what once was a rather powerful pejorative. It might interest the OED to know that it was in use far earlier than 1967, however. I can attest its appearance a good ten years earlier when, as a teenager in New York, I heard it being used -- not least of all, alas, by the person writing this note -- in the most disparate contexts.rovinskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14182863109641442184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-8345274351540455572010-06-30T02:59:50.144-04:002010-06-30T02:59:50.144-04:00And thus, dirtbag takes on an all new meaning. :/
...And thus, dirtbag takes on an all new meaning. :/<br /><br />Well, I had no idea what the term actually meant. I simply thought it was just an insult, much like any insult thrown at someone.<br /><br />Slang words like that tend to lose their original meaning, though. It's like the word "gay". Throughout the 70s and 80s it meant homosexual, but these days it is used in a different way altogether.<br /><br />When people are not informed as to the original meaning of a slang word, how does that change its use? Urban dictionary often has multiple explanations and meanings for slang words. What denotes something as retaining its original meaning; what's to stop people using a word simply as a slang word that means something to them other than its original, intended meaning?Geckomayhemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13401256567387933821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-87217384588838057122010-06-25T21:43:32.505-04:002010-06-25T21:43:32.505-04:00I and plenty of other women have taken to using &q...I and plenty of other women have taken to using "douchebag" or "douchehound" and the like as insults without finding that useage misogynistic. The reason is that douching is not actually good for women, it causes irritation and infection of a system which has no need for it and they have traditionally been used to make women feel that their natural bodies were something to be ashamed of. Therefore, douche-based insults are perfectly appropriate to apply to jackasses who are displaying their misogyny.Kellenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-55870056832341972772010-06-21T20:30:06.902-04:002010-06-21T20:30:06.902-04:00I remember hearing the word douchebag when I was a...I remember hearing the word douchebag when I was a kid in the 70s/early 80s. It was the kind of word that kids' older brothers knew, and its power as an insult came because we didn't know what it meant (sort of like when someone would say to you "I see your epidermis!!"). Its resurgence kind of surprised me for that reason, as does its new status as a word-we-shall-barely-speak.mighty red penhttp://mightyredpen.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-47937982093292615862010-06-21T12:19:31.137-04:002010-06-21T12:19:31.137-04:00I recall the term being used, sparingly, in the se...I recall the term being used, sparingly, in the second half of the 1960s in all male environments. It was a putdown, a way of pointing out that one was inept and fumbling.<br /><br />It was not quite the same as some words, like the F-word in those days, but still not fit for mixed company in the 1960s. I am sorry to see it go public.<br /><br />Regards — CliffC R Kriegerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10563658418464959198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-25226917246493059182010-06-20T08:00:14.998-04:002010-06-20T08:00:14.998-04:00Intertesting to me too is that omnipresent sports ...Intertesting to me too is that omnipresent sports talking head Michael Felger has embraced the nickname. Not sure when or who first gave him the moniker, but is well cemented in Boston sports media fandom.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-11227126171209454862010-06-18T00:01:42.118-04:002010-06-18T00:01:42.118-04:00Could douchebag be falling into greater disrepute ...Could douchebag be falling into greater disrepute because it is so similar to scumbag that people who don't know what "douche" means believe it means about the same thing? There's ample history of taboo words affecting the use of words that have similarities.<br /><br />Or maybe as more people learn what "douche" actually means, they feel that they have TMI and don't like the mental image they get when the word is used.<br /><br />-- Barbara Phillips LongAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-56591397637838453032010-06-16T15:47:04.297-04:002010-06-16T15:47:04.297-04:00As a 28-year-old proponent of the term "douch...As a 28-year-old proponent of the term "douchebag" (no really, it's commonplace in my oddball workplace), I can say that I did indeed know the origin of the term, from early days of reading "Seventeen" and "Cosmo."<br /><br />What surprises me is your failure to mention the slightly more nausea-inducing, but ever-more-common "douchenozzle." Hang around Harvard for 25 minutes and I guarantee you'll hear it.Jillianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01792137126898623243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-10091014462237940022010-06-14T22:57:46.635-04:002010-06-14T22:57:46.635-04:00Apropos of your last paragraph, I have long advoca...Apropos of your last paragraph, I have long advocated for "clyster-pipe" as a vaguely-obscene, somewhat-arbitrary insult, and coincidentally recently <a href="http://thoughts.wlw3.com/2010/05/attention-dont-be-a-clyster-pipe.html" rel="nofollow">wrote about it</a> (warning: lots of offensive language in my post), making a comparison to "douchebag." <br /><br />I suppose with millions of monkeys blogging away it's nearly impossible <i>not</i> to find this sort of spontaneous echo of everything you write.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-18316889073994670892010-06-12T23:40:45.900-04:002010-06-12T23:40:45.900-04:00The commentary on "scumbag" made me laug...The commentary on "scumbag" made me laugh. But really, "douchebag" as an insult does upset me because it is a gender-specific word used more often than not to describe men. It is similar to "pussy" in that respect. Is it such a bad thing to be woman?Kaitlyn Bolyardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05435888739264095847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-66005211376145295012010-06-11T15:14:50.124-04:002010-06-11T15:14:50.124-04:00I've been puzzled that the term would be taken...I've been puzzled that the term would be taken for an obscenity, given its literal meaning. We may just be uncomfortable, as you say, with its "feminine-secret weirdness."<br /><br />Wordnik.com's tracking shows the term taking off in popularity in the early 1980s. Saturday Night Live's popular "Lord Douchebag" sketch appeared in 1979.<br /><br />For those not at work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ2kfyQPftoMark Allenhttp://www.markallenediting.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-47890367102617230542010-06-11T11:12:06.954-04:002010-06-11T11:12:06.954-04:00I don't know it, Jack, but I'll look it up...I don't know it, Jack, but I'll look it up -- it's funny already! Thanks for the tip.Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01579983806826643000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-44139844537990481302010-06-11T10:23:47.060-04:002010-06-11T10:23:47.060-04:00You could add the Scottish "ballbag" (or...You could add the Scottish "ballbag" (or in broader Scots, "bawbag") to the list. I wonder if everyone knows the literal meaning of "scrotum".Harry Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01675794936870568336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-25360728107450893532010-06-11T09:38:11.746-04:002010-06-11T09:38:11.746-04:00Do you know Nicholson Baker's review of The Hi...Do you know Nicholson Baker's review of <i>The Historical Dictionary of American Slang</i> in <i>The Size of Thoughts</i>? It includes a lovely table with his speculations about legitimate compound pejoratives -- which nouns take <i>-bag</i>, which take <i>-ball</i>, and so on.Jack Lynchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13440417116228365588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-8247744145460626732010-06-10T09:38:08.530-04:002010-06-10T09:38:08.530-04:00Thanks, that's excellent -- I love it that we ...Thanks, that's excellent -- I love it that we both thought of "mouthwash."Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01579983806826643000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8811866763970314328.post-3750700548022548922010-06-10T01:08:44.799-04:002010-06-10T01:08:44.799-04:00Penny Arcade weighed in on the subject a couple co...Penny Arcade weighed in on the subject a couple comics ago:<br /><br />http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/6/2/tudzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16813121581730777404noreply@blogger.com