This is the closest explanation yet to what I've always understood what "to suck" means... for me and I suppose it's a regional thing... when someone who must exert a lot of energy, but lacks the stamina (i.e.. digging a ditch, digging a post hole, playing sports, running a marathon etc) when he/she falters too quickly... he or she is just "sucking wind", they couldn't "hold out" or are inadequate... they suck at what they are doing or attempting to do.
Just like the three system boards I had to have replaced on an old A31 years ago, fortunatly while it was under warranty ----- Original Message ----- From: "tOM Trottier" <[email protected]> To: "Jeffrey Race" <[email protected]>; "STeve Andre'" <[email protected]>; "Thinkpad Users Group" <[email protected]>; "Rob Bell" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2011 8:19 PM Subject: Re: [Thinkpad] Does Thinkvantage suck ? ( In Canada, the connotation of "suck" is also neutral, not dirty. It's hard to find another single word that conveys the same meaning, i.e., boring and ((inadequate or unskilled or hostile [actions]) and (unpleasant or soul-destroying[effect on self])) http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/s.htm says: Verb. To be worthless, contemptible or disgusting. E.g."The storyline in that book is a little contrived and the characters suck." Noun. Sweets, confectionery in general. A suck shop being a sweet shop. [W. Midlands use] http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Suck says: 1. Suck - Not good. Bad. The early Jazz musicians would say that a guy could really "Blow" if he had a good sound when playing the horn. If he couldn't play very well then they would say that he was "Sucking" on that horn. That's where the term "Suck" as being something bad came from. He plays that horn so poorly that he must be sucking on it. He doesn't blow, he sucks. by Don Kotas Aug 6, 2004 share this add a video 2. suck If you suck, it generally means you have no skill and/or talent. Oddly enough, even though suck is the opposite of blow, blow is an insult also. Damn you suck at sports. by iono Dec 3, 2004 share this add a video ... More at http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/suck http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaching_grandmother_to_suck_eggs Peace, tOM Trottier 2011 August 3 - Wednesday at 13:15 re:Re: [Thinkpad] Does Thinkvantage su… Rob Bell <[email protected]>wrote… >Jeffrey, > >I agree with much of what you say about the downhill slide of language >but I also recognize, like Steve, that such change is inevitable in >society. I, for one, hate the fact the dictionary keeps add new words >annually like ginormous, blogging and other similar atrocities. But, >like so many bad habits, you can't really fix people unless they want to >be fixed. The best alternative is to ignore them. > >The main disagreement I have with you is that 'suck' is not a reasonable >example of this trend. 'Suck' has been meaning the same thing to me and >those around me (in MN) for the last 40+ years. And nobody I know, from >'crude' redneck friends to high level corporate execs, seems to think >saying "that sucks" is in any way crude or vulgar. Perhaps that's just >an example of how norms are different in different parts of the world >and that a medium like the Internet (or a mailing list) brings different >people together to clash (or meld, depending on your viewpoint). >America has a history of tolerance for those with diverse backgrounds, >for better or worse. From what you say it appears other parts of the >world do not. Doesn't surprise me. > >Rob > >P.S. So people of Asian decent seem to like the school cafeterias >moreso than other ethnicities? Strange. > > >On Wed, 03 Aug 2011 11:51 +0700, "Jeffrey Race" <[email protected]> >wrote: >> So Steve's comment leads to some possibly fruitful >> ideas. >> >> The word itself is less the issue than the attitude >> it conveys, which is relevant to us as professional >> people involved in using and designing hardware >> and software. >> >> Frequent usage does not cleanse the word of its >> history or offensive associations. Such logic >> should be unacceptable to serious people. Lots >> of people beat their wives; frequency of wife- >> beating doesn't make it right or acceptable. It's >> a human failing. >> >> The only acceptable measure is conformity to a >> rule--and not mob rule. >> >> In this case casual use of this offensive term >> proves not that the word is appropriate but that >> increasing numbers of people don't care whether >> they offend others or not. Just as they don't >> care to take the trouble to speak proper English. >> Often now you hear "like I do" rather than the >> grammatically correct "as I do." It betrays a >> slacker attitude, and it stands out like a sore >> thumb when you travel abroad, as I do constantly. >> It's easy to spot the Americans -- they dress like >> slobs, are mostly overweight, and speak broken English. >> It's pathetically sad, and I'm so sorry for my >> countrymen. So that's why I speak up when I see >> bad habits. Someone has to. >> >> Specifically on the subject of language: it is >> a medium of communication. The rule has to be >> "what maintains/improves communication?" If you >> don't follow rules about meaning, and grammar, and >> syntax, eventually you end up being mutually >> incomprehensible. Look at what happened to Latin: >> people were sloppy, but sloppy in different ways in >> different areas, so you ended up with the mutually >> incomprehensible Romance languages. >> >> So I point to the use of the rude word as the sign >> of a bad habit: not caring about precision, about >> meaning, about other people. This bad habit .. -- tOM Trottier http://TomTrottier.com BBO:"0 carbon" 613-860-6633 [email protected] Skype:Abacurial MD5 Fingerprint 27:B8:BA:91:70:E5:44:20:8F:29:EE:46:1E:52:F6:81 SHA1 23:3A:53:18:AB:83:B1:CA:O7:33:AF:10:11:24:27:95:22:98:4 E:7E -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.12 GCS$/B$/IT$/O d++(--)@>+ s:+>: a++(--)>+++ C++>++++ ULH---> P+>+++ L+>++ !E W+++ N+ w++ O M !V P+ PE- Y+ PGP t 5- X R* tv+ b++ DI+++ D G e+++>++++ h----> r+++>++ y++++>++ ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------ _______________________________________________ Thinkpad mailing list [email protected] http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad _______________________________________________ Thinkpad mailing list [email protected] http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad
