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Stump
Me Questions Answered in October 2003
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Q.: What is the origin of the idiom “Up the
Wazoo?”
- No Name Given
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A.: It's
from the 1960s and is an offshoot of the saying, "up the
kazoo." Kazoo would eventually morph into wazoo, but
both refer to an ass. It's not quite clear how the phrase
came to refer to more than a person can take, but I guess if you
let your imagination wander some reason will come to mind.
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Q.: Where does the phrase 'Wet your whistle' come from?
- Karina F.
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A.: This
is an old one, dating back to the 16th century. The throat
was referred to as one's whistle as far back as the 14th
century; however, the first reference of the phrase's use
doesn't appear for another 200 years.
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Q.: Where does the phrase "who gives a shit?" come
from, and why is giving a shit revered as a bonus?
- Michelle S.
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A.: The
phrase is from the 19th century and owes its roots to the 18th
century expression "give a damn." It's use as a
way of saying you don't care is from the 1970s United States,
where it suddenly started being use in a positive way despite
its negative meaning.
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Q.: Where did the word asshole originate from and what's the story?
- Stefanie W.
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A.: This
one's been around for a long time. The use of asshole as a
derogatory word can be traced back to the 14th century, where
the term arse-hoole (from Latin and Anglo-Saxon origins)
referred to a person's anus (the reference still carries
today). At the time, the use of the word "arse"
was not to be used in conversation, and was printed only after
replacing the consonants with hyphens (a--e). Arsehole was
predominantly used by lower income people and those who lived in
the streets. Today, the spellings with "arse"
and "ass" (the UK and US versions, respectively) are
essentially interchangeable.
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Q.: What is
the origin of the term "blowjob?"
- No Name Given
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A.: According
to Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, it started out as
"basket job," a gay term from the 1940s. Basket
was a slang word for the male genitals, and job referred to a
procedure. The wording may have been switched to blowjob
due to the fact that "blow" already referred to the
act of fellatio (because of the appearance of the physical act).
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Q.: What is the
etymology of cows being referred to as "Bossy?"
- Su
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A.: Wow,
somebody who knows the word etymology! Nice going.
The only reference I can find about this is the Standard English
term from the 1600s where the word boss referred to a fat
lady. In that light, boss referred to the protuberance or
swelling of the stomach. I can only assume that its use
for cows relates to that since cows are the female version of
their species. Sorry I couldn't be more definitive.
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Q.: Can you please tell me where the word DORK originated from and the actual definition? I can't seem to find it anywhere. Thank you.
- Nikki K.
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A.: Well,
it all depends on which definition you're looking for.
Dork actually has three noun definitions: 1) a thick slice of
bread and butter; 2) a penis; and 3) a fool.
Unfortunately, I can't find any solid references on its
origins. Though both definitions can be traced back to the
word "dick," I can't find anything to explain why the
word mutated as much as it did.
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Q.: Where is the most painful place on the human body to be punched?
- Carena
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A.: This
one's probably a matter of opinion, but the majority of people
I've checked with, including medical professionals and athletes,
say it's the kidneys. A boxer I asked pointed out that
professional fighters have been knocked out by a single, solid
shot to the kidneys (not knocked unconscious, but unable to get
back to their feet by the count of ten). Incidentally, I
ruled out the testicles from discussion because women will never
know, or understand, the intense pain of being hit in the balls.
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Q.: What's
the origin of the word "shit?" I recently got an
e-mail saying the word shit comes from "Ship High In
Transit." Obviously, when manure was shipped there
was some kind of problem in keeping it dry. Do you know if
this is true?
- Martin D.
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A.: Did
you really buy that load of shit (pun intended)? Let's get
something straight. Don't believe anything e-mailed to you
about word origins unless you can find verifiable evidence of
its facts. I don't know how many times I've had to debunk
e-mail "facts."
Now, on to your answer. Unfortunately, the origin of
shit isn't as sexy as, say, shipping a pile of crap by
boat. It's a variation of the Middle Low German word
"Schite" and the Old English word "scitte,"
both of which referred to dung in the 14th century. It's
unknown which of those words came first.
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