|
|
| Author |
Message |
polygon
|
|
To be a stick
| 
Sep 28 03:00 UTC 2003 |
Question.
What does it mean to call a person a "stick"?
If someone says "Ralph is a stick," does it mean "Ralph is very thin,"
or "Ralph is stiff and emotionally undemonstrative"? Or something else
entirely?
|
| 31 responses total. |
gelinas
|
|
response 1 of 31:
|
Sep 28 03:13 UTC 2003 |
I think it's a mispronounciation of "stitch", which usually means someone who
is funny (perhaps from "a sharp spasm of pain in the side resulting from
running", which can also be induced by laughter).
|
drew
|
|
response 2 of 31:
|
Sep 28 03:45 UTC 2003 |
"Stick in the mud" would fit the second option in #0.
|
other
|
|
response 3 of 31:
|
Sep 28 05:26 UTC 2003 |
I would think that #2 has the more likely answer. "Stick in the mud" is
an old and well-known phrase, so its truncation to "stick" is not a
stretch of the imagination at all.
|
jaklumen
|
|
response 4 of 31:
|
Sep 28 07:40 UTC 2003 |
Yes, that's what I was thinking.
|
murph
|
|
response 5 of 31:
|
Sep 28 13:29 UTC 2003 |
I think it could mean the first option also. I've called my scrawny brother
a stick before. (may have been "stick boy", more precisely...)
See also "Twiggy", referring both to a super-skinny model and, now, to a
store that sells clothing for super-skinny females. "Twig" is very much
like "stick".
|
cmcgee
|
|
response 6 of 31:
|
Sep 28 13:40 UTC 2003 |
I heard that used about a very uptight, rules-following person. Stiff,
unyielding personality. Which would fit well with the use stick-in-the-mud.
|
tod
|
|
response 7 of 31:
|
Sep 28 13:54 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
|
polygon
|
|
response 8 of 31:
|
Sep 28 15:46 UTC 2003 |
I can see how the phrase might have evolved, but "stick-in-the-mud" is
pretty negative, and I am positive that I remember "stick" being used
fondly more often than not.
|
gelinas
|
|
response 9 of 31:
|
Sep 28 16:27 UTC 2003 |
Which was the impetus of #1. ;)
|
rcurl
|
|
response 10 of 31:
|
Sep 28 20:42 UTC 2003 |
A dictionary might help here. From OED:
b. A `wooden' person; one lacking in capacity for his work, or in geniality
of manner; Theatr. an indifferent actor.
c. U.S. slang. = shill sb.
b. A group of parachutists jumping in quick succession.
a. slang, a pick-pocket's accomplice (cf. stick slinger);
b. U.S. colloq., a croupier;
4. Cricket. A batsman who remains a long time at the wicket, one not easily
`got out'.
Seems like a versatile word - can mean almost anything you want.
|
dah
|
|
response 11 of 31:
|
Sep 28 20:54 UTC 2003 |
I wish I had a copy of the OED.
|
happyboy
|
|
response 12 of 31:
|
Sep 28 22:31 UTC 2003 |
i wish i has a greasy backbacon sannidge.
|
rcurl
|
|
response 13 of 31:
|
Sep 29 00:22 UTC 2003 |
OED is online at http://ets.umdl.umich.edu/o/oed/
|
dah
|
|
response 14 of 31:
|
Sep 29 00:29 UTC 2003 |
That's only for people with accounts, and I'm not one of them!
aha.
|
rcurl
|
|
response 15 of 31:
|
Sep 29 06:45 UTC 2003 |
?? No account is required to access OED online.
|
scott
|
|
response 16 of 31:
|
Sep 29 12:35 UTC 2003 |
("dah" and a few others are all really polytarp, Rane. You're being trolled)
|
mynxcat
|
|
response 17 of 31:
|
Sep 29 13:53 UTC 2003 |
dah is polytarp. asddsa is naftee. Two entirely different people.
|
aruba
|
|
response 18 of 31:
|
Sep 29 15:09 UTC 2003 |
Rane, I think you do need a umich login to access that site. Yours is
probably stored in a cookie on your machine, so that you don't have to enter
it every time.
|
gelinas
|
|
response 19 of 31:
|
Sep 29 16:37 UTC 2003 |
(I think Mark may be right. Try to getting to it usinng lynx here.)
|
rcurl
|
|
response 20 of 31:
|
Sep 29 18:22 UTC 2003 |
Yes, you are right. My access is through that umich domain. I had
completely forgotten that. (It doesn't use a cookie, though: my cookie
files are empty and locked - it is using just my umich login.)
|
dah
|
|
response 21 of 31:
|
Sep 29 18:40 UTC 2003 |
ahah,a BUT STILL YOU HAVER BEEN TROLLED BUT THIS TIME BY SCOTT HELMKE! GOOD
TROLL< SCOTT.
|
rcurl
|
|
response 22 of 31:
|
Sep 29 18:56 UTC 2003 |
The subject is "stick".
|
other
|
|
response 23 of 31:
|
Sep 29 20:55 UTC 2003 |
All of us Lower Peninsula Michiganians are trolls. We live below the
bridge.
|
jaklumen
|
|
response 24 of 31:
|
Sep 30 01:30 UTC 2003 |
I still say battle of the trollies, baby.
|