So one of the asinine media kerfluffles of the moment is the ginned-up controversy over MSNBC pundit Mark Halperin getting suspended for calling President Obama a dick. Because this is soooo much worse than the actual crimes against political discourse and rational policymaking that are Mr. Halperin’s day-to-day contributions to our nation.
Thing is, a couple years ago, there was a similar kerfluffle over Mr. Halperin calling Obama a pussy.
So he’s a pussy for not being tough enough, but when he does stand up for his policy, he’s a dick.
There’s some analysis about use of ugly gendered language and its relation to gender stereotypes to be made here. There’s also some observations about how pundits will use whatever justification presents itself to bolster their prejudice against a given political figure, rather than maintaining any consistent principles.
However, I can’t really get into either of those right now, because my brain just keeps yelling oh come the fuck ON in an increasingly frustrated tone. Feel free to break down the issues involved in comments.
Man this takes me back to a moderator on a forum yelling at me. He said it was a “dick” move for me to comment that someone was being a bitch. The cognitive dissonance caused me to dizzily decide to just go to bed and remark and what a wonderful idiot the man was.
Copulate?
Not a native English speaker, but I’ve never heard that verb used with venom (“Copulate you!”). On the other hand I haven’t heard it being used with much passion either (“Copulate me now!”).
Others are: to lay, to mate, to procreate, to fornicate (has negative connotations, but are not to my knowledge used to mean something bad to someone) and to bed.
Is there a prize 🙂
Mount is better but it makes me think of horses.
Also, it assumes something that the person on top is doing to the person on bottom. In my ideal world, there would be a verb that meant that act, that also implied mutual participation, and had a happy connotation.
Couple?
That’s not precisely PIV though.
Try to think of a simple verb for the PIV sex act that does not, in other contexts, mean doing something bad to somebody. This bums me out.
You’ve got a damn good point. “Schtup” isn’t too bad, but I definitely hear where you’re coming from.
Boff,
Mount?
“Awesome” — freshly minted as a verb for you right here. As in, “I awesomed that girl so good last night, it was awesome.”
doctormindbeam, how about “That girl and I awesomed last night, it was awesome!” Will try this out and let you know how it goes. : ) Somewhere I read how the f-word (sorry I can overcome my upbringing just so much) should be at least sometimes an expression of joy. I told my husband this as he happened to be taking a plate of corndogs he was fixing for himself out of the microwave. To illustrate, I pretended to take the plate out of his hands, saying happily, “Are these for me? F- you!” And we both died laughing –… Read more »
Let me know! If it works I’ll use it too. 🙂
Well, we do say “fuck yeah” “fuckin’ A” “awesome as fuck” and “for fuck’s sake”, among other things. Those are expressions of joy, affirmation, high praise, and reverence, respectively.
Though your usage reminds me of a line a friend of mine used to use: “Fuck the police! They have a very stressful job and they could use it.”
Shag is a pretty good word that i haven’t heard as a perjoritive. Also british. I loves me my britishisims
Entanglement ?
Or possibly (as my Dad used to say) “Making love” – which was shy I was a little confused at clips of fully-clothed people “making out”.
@DMB: The good thing about “asshole” as an epithet is that assholes are like opinions — everyone has one and they regularly emit shit…
@ballgame: In situations like that, I like to be super enthusiastic, perky and wide-eyed and squee “Yaaayyyy!!!! Two wrongs make a right!” and see if it sinks in… 🙂
Is it a question of “nobody should ever use this word”, or “it’s OK for us to use this word as an insult”?
Mythago, are you asking if I think it’s OK to use asshole as an epithet? If so, the answer is yes, I do.
I mean, calling someone an asshole is rude, but that’s the point, right? Sometimes it is appropriate to call someone rude names. But it’s completely equalitarian in its rudeness, with no slur implied against any human (or indeed any vertebrate and some other living creatures besides. Jellyfishist, I can live with) other than the target of the insult.
No, I meant the two-wrongs-make-a-right argument. I don’t have a problem with “asshole”. (“Douchebag,” yes.)
I think I understand your reservations about “douchebag”, but I have read an interesting feminist defense of the term:
http://www.overthinkingit.com/2008/09/04/on-douchebags/
Or, shorter:
http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2009/11/16/in-defense-of-douchebag/
You may or may not agree, but I think it’s an interesting take, and one I’m inclined toward.
In what context? Not entirely sure what you’re asking? I was replying to ballgame’s link which appeared to be about a misandrist t-shirt, with the defence (by the wearer, not ballgame) of, “but ‘they’ did it first!”. Hopefully everyone learns when growing up that two wrongs don’t make a right, and so when I see this sort of behaviour, by surfacing the subtext in such a blatant way (but with a completely chirpy and inoffensive demeanour), I hope to deliver a small moment of illumination. That’s the theory, anyway 🙂 In a broader context, I don’t believe in “nobody should… Read more »
I think people — like the t-shirt wearer — would do well to ask themselves, “What am I trying to accomplish? What will this help? What will this hurt?”
“Trust no dick?” Okay, but why? If I say “Trust no pussy” in response, am I, too, being self-righteously “strong and witty?” What the fuck are we trying to do here again? Hurt everyone?
Interesting you should post this; I was contemplating writing a post about this photo over at Lipstick Feminists. I cut them a little slack (but not much) because it appears to be a reaction to a ‘trust no bitch’ meme from some rapper. Still, it’s the classic “It’s OK when WE do it!” approach that appears to have elicited nothing but cheers from the respondents over there. I think the frequent absence of a, “No, it’s NOT OK when WE do it” response in situations like these is part of the reason why there’s a lot of skepticism among those… Read more »
“Hypocrisy: It’s cool when it’s not from you?”
Funny, I was thinking about doing a post on the use of genitals as sexist slurs. “Pussies” are bad in a “weak” sense, while “dicks” are bad in a “mean” sense. Fucked up that sex is demonized and turned into a bad thing when it’s one of the best things ever, isn’t it?
Pun intended.
“Cunt” is bad in the mean sense though, and “soft cock” is bad in a weak sense.
Asshole, Pussy and Dick. Now why does the wholly irreverant satire Team America: World Police spring to mind ?
I’m glad it wasn’t just me!
Mark Halperin being an asshole pretty much explains everything, though.