stuff it

Question

Hi,Emily enters and though Paul and Meg try to fake another fight, Emily tells Meg to stuff it.What does 'stuff it' mean here?Thanks very much.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

To indelicately (forcefully) place it where the sun don't shine.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi Avangi,

Thank you very much for your reply. But I can't understand what you said, could you explain it more clearly?

Thanks.

Avangi · Answer

I gave it my best shot. I must now defer to a professional writer. - A.

Edit. Have you checked the "Urban Dictionary"? (online) They usually carry that sort of thing.

My brother's first wife once famously used that expression on my father. He never quite got over it.

In general, to stuff is to cram something full beyond it's capacity, like a turkey, or a laundry bag. The object (grammatical) may be either the container or the contents. I stuffed my dirty laundry into the duffle bag. I stuffed the duffle bag full of my dirty laundry. I'm stuffed!

Edit edit. Well, I looked at urban dictionary. My usage may be obsolete. Most of the quotes seem to resemble "stow it," which is an old navy expression for packing something away (maybe in a duffle bag). On an airliner you "stow" things in the compartment above your seat. As a figurative expression, it was similar in meaning to "put it away," or "get rid of it," or "quit it." Perhaps just "shut up."
Ships and airplanes share some jargon, like "stowaway" - hidden, stashed away out of sight..

Anonymous · Answer

Hi Avangi,

Thank you very much for telling me the online dictionary. I now know it means 'shut up' here.

MrPedantic · Answer

I would agree with Avangi; in BrE, it tends to express a) contempt for the addressee b) contempt for the subject under discussion. The underlying metaphor is "take that subject and forcefully insert it up your posterior".

(It's a fairly vigorous expression; though of course friends could use it humorously.)

MrP

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