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Usenet Posted 23 years ago
Usage
Unforgiven
In my endless desire to see good movies, I just re-saw Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" a fantastic movie. Worth all awards it has received. It's definitely one of those desert-island movies.
Anyway, the dialogue seems to be very much non-cliche and non-modern. The apeparance is that they actually went through the effort to make it appear contemporary to the setting, which would be 1881.
A few things that struck me was the use of "teets" instead of "***", "cussing" instead of "cursing/swearing" and the line "you were the worst one... meaning the best". The fact that they included a specification to that made it rather... er, charming.
At any rate, that last example made me thinking about bad=good (which I assume wasn't a Michael Jackson invention). How far back does that go in English?
jouni maho
Anyway, the dialogue seems to be very much non-cliche and non-modern. The apeparance is that they actually went through the effort to make it appear contemporary to the setting, which would be 1881.
A few things that struck me was the use of "teets" instead of "***", "cussing" instead of "cursing/swearing" and the line "you were the worst one... meaning the best". The fact that they included a specification to that made it rather... er, charming.
At any rate, that last example made me thinking about bad=good (which I assume wasn't a Michael Jackson invention). How far back does that go in English?
jouni maho
Top answer
[nq:1]In my endless desire to see good movies, I just re-saw Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" a fantastic movie. Worth all ... [/nq] I have to add to this, though, that they added the line "the kid's full of ***", which sounds potentially anachronistic to me.
- [nq:1]In my endless desire to see good movies, I just re-saw Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" a fantastic movie.
- Worth all ...
- [/nq] I have to add to this, though, that they added the line "the kid's full of ***", which sounds potentially anachronistic to me.
- jouni maho
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28 Answers
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[nq:1]In my endless desire to see good movies, I just re-saw Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" a fantastic movie. Worth all ... is that they actually went through the effort to make it appear contemporary to the setting, which would be 1881.[/nq]
I have to add to this, though, that they added the line "the kid's full of ***", which sounds potentially anachronistic to me.
jouni maho
I have to add to this, though, that they added the line "the kid's full of ***", which sounds potentially anachronistic to me.
jouni maho
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[nq:1]In my endless desire to see good movies, I just re-saw Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" a fantastic movie. Worth all ... the setting, which would be 1881. A few things that struck me was the use of "*****" instead of "***",[/nq]
The old word, still used for livestock, is spelled "teat."
[nq:1]"cussing" instead of "cursing/swearing"[/nq]
I'm not sure why you mention this. Are you sur
The old word, still used for livestock, is spelled "teat."
[nq:1]"cussing" instead of "cursing/swearing"[/nq]
I'm not sure why you mention this. Are you sur
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[nq:2]"cussing" instead of "cursing/swearing"[/nq]
[nq:1]I'm not sure why you mention this. Are you surprised that it is old? Do you think it isn't? Are you not familiar with it at all? I can't tell.[/nq]
Well, it could be my unfamiliarity with idiomatic English.
The word "cussing" is used when Clint's character says to his young son that he should be "cussing". It just sounded so
[nq:1]I'm not sure why you mention this. Are you surprised that it is old? Do you think it isn't? Are you not familiar with it at all? I can't tell.[/nq]
Well, it could be my unfamiliarity with idiomatic English.
The word "cussing" is used when Clint's character says to his young son that he should be "cussing". It just sounded so
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I wrote, but forgot to add:
[nq:1]The word "cussing" is used when Clint's character says to his young son that he should be "cussing". It just sounded so out-of-date to me. In a[/nq]^^
That should've been "should not be".
[nq:1]modern-day drama, I assume, he would rather use the verb "swear", not "cuss". But then again, what do I know. I know "cussing" occurs in dictionaries, but would
[nq:1]The word "cussing" is used when Clint's character says to his young son that he should be "cussing". It just sounded so out-of-date to me. In a[/nq]^^
That should've been "should not be".
[nq:1]modern-day drama, I assume, he would rather use the verb "swear", not "cuss". But then again, what do I know. I know "cussing" occurs in dictionaries, but would
00
[nq:1] I'm interested to see that the noun "cuss" is unrelated, being a shortening of "customer." "He's an ugly customer" > "He's an ugly cuss."[/nq]
This seemed unlikely to me, so I checked NSOED:
cuss n. colloq. (Orig. US) L18. (Var. of curse n. Sense 1 later often regarded as abbrev. of customer )
1. A person, a creature, esp. a detestable, perverse, or obstinate one.
This seemed unlikely to me, so I checked NSOED:
cuss n. colloq. (Orig. US) L18. (Var. of curse n. Sense 1 later often regarded as abbrev. of customer )
1. A person, a creature, esp. a detestable, perverse, or obstinate one.
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I've looked in a couple of on-line American
dictionaries, and they say the noun "cuss," with different meanings, is an alteration of "curse."
A UK dictionary says the noun "cuss" is "later often regarded" as an abbreviation of "customer." To me that says they wouldn't argue with either etymology.
dictionaries, and they say the noun "cuss," with different meanings, is an alteration of "curse."
A UK dictionary says the noun "cuss" is "later often regarded" as an abbreviation of "customer." To me that says they wouldn't argue with either etymology.
00
[nq:2]I'm not sure why you mention this. Are you surprised ... you not familiar with it at all? I can't tell.[/nq]
[nq:1]Well, it could be my unfamiliarity with idiomatic English. The word "cussing" is used when Clint's character says to his ... again, what do I know. I know "cussing" occurs in dictionaries, but would it actually be used by modern-day English-speakers?[/nq]
Yes, it's still
[nq:1]Well, it could be my unfamiliarity with idiomatic English. The word "cussing" is used when Clint's character says to his ... again, what do I know. I know "cussing" occurs in dictionaries, but would it actually be used by modern-day English-speakers?[/nq]
Yes, it's still
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[nq:1]At any rate, that last example made me thinking about bad=good (which I assume wasn't a Michael Jackson invention). How far back does that go in English?[/nq]
At least as far back as the '70s and Shaft! (Can you dig it?)
Opus the Penguin (that's my real email addy)
You snipped my sig!
At least as far back as the '70s and Shaft! (Can you dig it?)
Opus the Penguin (that's my real email addy)
You snipped my sig!
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[nq:2] I'm interested to see that the noun "cuss" is unrelated, being a shortening of "customer." "He's an ugly customer" > "He's an ugly cuss."[/nq]
[nq:1]This seemed unlikely to me, so I checked NSOED: cuss n. colloq. (Orig. US) L18. (Var. of curse ... a profane oath. M19. Am I right in thinking that they believe the "abbrev. of customer" theory to be mistaken?[/nq]
I take it t
[nq:1]This seemed unlikely to me, so I checked NSOED: cuss n. colloq. (Orig. US) L18. (Var. of curse ... a profane oath. M19. Am I right in thinking that they believe the "abbrev. of customer" theory to be mistaken?[/nq]
I take it t
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[nq:2]A few things that struck me was the use of "*****" instead of "***",[/nq]
[nq:1]The old word, still used for livestock, is spelled "teat."[/nq]
In Heinlein's The Number of the Beast , one of the characters talks about it being proper to spell it "teat" and pronounce it /***/. The latter is the first pronunciation given by MWCD10 for "teat" (though not the one I learned).
Eva
[nq:1]The old word, still used for livestock, is spelled "teat."[/nq]
In Heinlein's The Number of the Beast , one of the characters talks about it being proper to spell it "teat" and pronounce it /***/. The latter is the first pronunciation given by MWCD10 for "teat" (though not the one I learned).
Eva
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