Topic: Cato's Grammar Grumble

[North Star]

According to Martin Kippenberger

https://www.phillips.com/detail/martin-kippenberger/NY010606/171

Should that be?

Or "The difference between Casanova and Jesus: the facial expression when being nailed." But we're talking about a title of a work of art, translated from German.

[Kaga2]

By the way, is being nailed the same as being screwed? Is that what makes Kippenberger’s comment interesting?

No. Nailed is pinned down, in a detrimental way. Who paid for the last supper? Jesus got nailed for it.  Being screwed is just being in a bad position with few options.

[JBS]

No. Nailed is pinned down, in a detrimental way. Who paid for the last supper? Jesus got nailed for it.  Being screwed is just being in a bad position with few options.

Slang usage must be significantly different among different parts of the country.  My experience is that both sets of definitions--KAGA's and the sexual ones--are generally used, although "nailed" often has positive meaning (f.i. "He nailed that assignment" implies a superior result).

[Mandryka]

But we're talking about a title of a work of art, translated from German.

Hopefully a German speaker can explain the connotations of Der Gesichtsausdruck beim Nageln which make Kippenberger's remark interesting.

(Not the title, which is Fred the Frog Rings the Bell)

[Mandryka]

Slang usage must be significantly different among different parts of the country.  My experience is that both sets of definitions--KAGA's and the sexual ones--are generally used, although "nailed" often has positive meaning (f.i. "He nailed that assignment" implies a superior result).

Are for me, being screwed could mean "having sex" -- and that came to mind because of the mention of Cassanova. And I was wondering if, in The States, you could say "being nailed" for sex (you can't in Britain, at least not in my house.)

Also the title is Fred the Frog Rings the Bell. I think when you ring someone's bell, it may mean, you screw nail make love to them.

But as North Star rightly points out, we need to understand the meaning of Nageln.

[Mandryka]

Who is Fred the Frog?

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

By the way, is being nailed the same as being screwed? Is that what makes Kippenberger’s comment interesting?

I didn't think so, in the case of Casanova.  It would be the girl who was, erm, nailed.

[JBS]

Are for me, being screwed could mean "having sex" -- and that came to mind because of the mention of Cassanova. And I was wondering if, in The States, you could say "being nailed" for sex (you can't in Britain, at least not in my house.)

Also the title is Fred the Frog Rings the Bell. I think when you ring someone's bell, it may mean, you screw nail make love to them.

But as North Star rightly points out, we need to understand the meaning of Nageln.

I thought it might mean "dying", like "kick the bucket". Perhaps when at death's door, the moment of death may be symbolized by ringing the doorbell. And there is the most common meaning of evoking a (possibly indistinct) memory ("that picture rings a bell for me"). But Urban Dictionary gives a totally different explanation

In what is internally referred to as "The Business" (ie. any of the multitude of direct sales offices that sprung out of DS-Max, Cydcor, Granton, Smartcircle, Credico etc.), this is a term referring to hitting ones sales goal of selling enough to earn $100 personal profit for the day. This can equate to a certain number of sales dependent upon the campaign. For example, if one earns $50 commission per sale and then "ringing the bell" entails closing two sales.

This is not only an idiomatic expression as it refers to the literal ringing of a bell after returning to the office from a day in the field. All reps who earned the minimum $100 profit ring a large bell signifying their results and are congratulated by their fellow sales reps in a raucous, high-energy ceremony

And there's the song Ring My Bell, by Anita Ward.

[Kaga2]

Slang usage must be significantly different among different parts of the country.  My experience is that both sets of definitions--KAGA's and the sexual ones--are generally used, although "nailed" often has positive meaning (f.i. "He nailed that assignment" implies a superior result).

Oh I fully agree, but I thought his context was being the object not the subject. Doing the nailing is good, being nailed not so much.

[Kaga2]

screwed could mean "having sex"

That is very common yes.

So can almost any phrase really. My second year textbook had pages and pages of examples.

[steve ridgway]

I took it as sexual and would probably have thought it funny when I was about 14 .

[Florestan]

You guys are wasting too much time analyzing a piece of shit.

[Mandryka]

You guys are wasting too much time analyzing a piece of shit.

This is true, though it did lead me to the story of Casanova's imprisonment and escape, which I didn't know about (I know nothing about Casanova.)

The CD which led me to the picture which led me to Deleuze's concept of "bare repetition", which may be another piece of shit.

[Florestan]

This is true, though it did lead me to the story of Casanova's imprisonment and escape, which I didn't know about (I know nothing about Casanova.)

You can read French, you should read his Memoirs. He was an intelligent, cultivated, witty and fun writer.

[Kaga2]

You guys are wasting too much time analyzing a piece of shit.

Insert reference to GMG political threads here.

[Cato]

Time has not been friendly to your host in the last months, and so some things which I wanted to share with you - here and under other topics...are now like Scarlett O'Hara!   

Today, however, something rather awful was caught in the local newspaper by Mrs. Cato, and I do have a few spare minutes, so prepare to be appalled.

The local newspaper has deteriorated greatly - like many other things here      - since our first sojourn in this city c. 40 years ago.  As evidence of this, Mrs. Cato would present to you an article on Ohio archaeology, which should have been interesting, because it had nothing to do with viruses and the Nanny State admonishing us to wash our hands, cover our mouths when we cough or sneeze, be nice to our sisters, and not to drive on the railroad tracks!

However, the article was so badly written that she gave up: "It's written by somebody with severe ADHD!  Why didn't an editor see all the problems with this article?"

The next example shows why: the editors themselves apparently are incompetent.

In an article about two lady nonagenarians and their active lives, one reads that the women have no microwave ovens or cell phones:

" 'I don't like that newfangled stuff,' said the lady coining a new word.' ".   

Yes!  Neither the reporter nor any editor who screened the article had heard of the word "newfangled" !!!   And they did not check a dictionary, which shows that they are probably 40-somethings or younger, since checking a dictionary is something which my students have resisted for decades!   

"Newfangled!"  Yes, Great-Great-Grandma was "coining a new word" !   

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

Ach!

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Ouch!

[(: premont :)]

Being screwed is just being in a bad position with few options.

Do you refer to the missionary position?

[The Six]

RIP the letter "d" in "supposed". It had a good run, but the end is near, so we might as well pay our respects now. It will be joining its brother, the fallen "d" in "iced cream".