Screw?

Question

I often hear a word or a phrase in movies and it sounds like :

[skru:d] or sometimes [skru:].

Is it the word "screw"?

For example,

It's [skru:d] up. I'm [skru:d] up. (I'm not sure whether I'm hearing right)

And sometimes, A says to B :" [skru:] you." The scene is like A is swearing, cursing B or something.

Are these all referring to the word "screw"?

And could someone give some more examples of its colloquial use?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

erebreakIt's [skru:d] up. I'm [skru:d] up. (I'm not sure whether I'm hearing right)

You are hearing it right. You can think of it as "messed".

It's messed up. ~ It's not working right. / It's tangled up. / It's dirty.

I'm messed up. ~ I'm not thinking clearly. / I have a lot of psychological problems.
I messed up. ~ I made a bad mistake. / I did it incorrectly.

The other usage (with you) is indeed a cursing of another person, just as you suspected, and it is a very offensive curse. If you are watching movies where you hear this very often, you are not watching very high-class movies!

erebreakAre these all referring to the word "*****"?

Yes. The same word has many meanings, not all of them offensive, but you do have to be careful how you use it.

CJ

Mr Wordy · Answer

Yes, the word is "*****" (see e.g. http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/***** ).

"*****" has the vulgar meaning of "to have *** with" (as a verb) or "an act of sexual intercourse" (as a noun). In this sense, it's similar to "f***", but slightly milder. Expressions such as "***** you" and "go ***** yourself" are general-purpose abusive insults -- slightly milder alternatives to "f*** you" and "go f*** yourself". (Although I say "slightly milder", the expressions are still very offensive, so use with great caution!)

As an adjective, "screwed" can be used with several colloquial meanings:

"screwed (up)" (of a thing) = "broken", "gone wrong"

"screwed" (of a person) = "in big trouble"

"screwed up" (of a person) = "emotionally damaged"

These uses are all vulgar, but fairly mildly so. I'm not completely sure if they derive from the "have *** with" meaning, or if they derive independently from the core meaning of "*****".

CalifJim · Answer

Mr Wordyor if they derive independently from the core meaning of "*****".

Wouldn't it have to be this? Related to a meaning like "twisted", "twisted up into knots"? The route from the *** meaning to the "broken-in-trouble-damaged" meanings seems quite a bit more circuitous, but maybe I'm missing something.

CJ

Erebreak · Answer

Thank you CJ.

I hear those expressions from American TV series, like Prison Break, Supernatural and also British series like Hustle. There are a lot of idioms, especially slangs in episodes, and they always make me confused.

By the way, what kind of curse is ***** you ? I mean now I know it's a curse, but what does it mean? ***** is an action of fastening something by twisting. Does it have something to do the cursing meaning?

CalifJim · Answer

erebreakwhat does it mean?

It has a sexual connotation. See Mr. Wordy's response.

CJ

Erebreak · Answer

Mr Wordy"*****" has the vulgar meaning of "to have *** with" (as a verb) or "an act of sexual intercourse" (as a noun). In this sense, it's similar to "f***", but slightly milder. Expressions such as "***** you" and "go ***** yourself" are general-purpose abusive insults -- slightly milder alternatives to "f*** you" and "go f*** yourself". (Although I say "slightly milder", the expressions are still very offensive, so use with great caution!)

Thank you Mr. Wordy. I missed your post when I was writing reply to CJ, and you have answered my second question.

Thank you both again.

Mr Wordy · Answer

CalifJim
Mr Wordyor if they derive independently from the core meaning of "*****".
Wouldn't it have to be this? Related to a meaning like "twisted", "twisted up into knots"? The route from the *** meaning to the "broken-in-trouble-damaged" meanings seems quite a bit more circuitous, but maybe I'm missing something.

I'm not sure. Compare "I'm screwed" with "I'm f*****", for example. There seem to be parallels there.

Erebreak · Answer

I have a new question.

Does "***** it" make sense? If yes, what does it mean? Is it vulgar?

In my impression, I've never heard of "f*** it" before.

Fandorin · Answer

erebreak "***** it"

It is similar, I guess, to "f*** it off", "buzz it off", "sod it off" (British English).The latter is similar to "f*** off" so be careful of using it because it is very offensive.
One episode came to my mind. In one episode of Lie to Me one criminal said "***** him. Let's go" implying that the person he reffered to wasn't worth talking to and he wanted to get rid of him.

Mr Wordy · Answer

Fandorin
erebreak "***** it"

It is similar, I guess, to "f*** it off", "buzz it off", "sod it off" (British English).The latter is similar to "f*** off" so be careful of using it because it is very offensive.

"f***/buzz/sod it off" are not idiomatic.

"buzz off", "sod off" and "f*** off" are dismissive abusive expressions directed at a person. "buzz off" is very mild, "f*** off" very offensive, and "sod off" somewhere in between.

"sod it", "***** it" and "f*** it" express annoyance with a situation or thing, not a person.

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