Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: The spy who shagged me (ci provava o non ci provava ?)

While we were strolling down Via dell' Indipendenza in Bologna  yesterday I
and Bambi discussed the meaning of the world "Shag".
I checked all my slang dictionaries , oh Queen of mine , and here are the
results :
It is used in the sentence :
Are you going to the party stag or shag  ? and it means "with a date  or an
escort (I wonder however whether or not women are supposed to use it ).
When a verb Shag means
To depart rapidly
To run
To hurry
To chase something (almost entirely limited  to use by boys between 8 and 15
years old)
All the above uses are taken from "The pocket dictionary of American slang "
and maybe
the latter meaning is the one the makers of the film had in mind .If you
chase someone, ci provi , don't you ?
The dictionary of Oaths, Curses, Insults, Racial Slurs, Sexual slang  and
metaphor, Drug Talk,
Homosexual Lingo and related matters gives out 6 meanings instead .
Here they are :
1 To wiggle to shake, to toss about.
2 Low rascal (British early 1600s)
3 To copulate
4 Copulation
5Lecher (1900 and before)
6 To masturbate (British slang 1800s)
As one of the Civil Servants of the NG I guess I've done my bit.
I guess further enlightment on the matter could come from our American
friends.
Yours ,theirs and everybody's
Sal

 and Bambi discussed the meaning of the world "Shag".
I haven't seen the film, but because of the title I assumed it was British, not
American.
The Italian translation is not exactly faithful to the original.
The *only* current meaning of the verb "shag" in the UK, AFAIK, is "scopare". E'
una parola abbastanza rozza, direi (in inglese, cioč).
Non solo ci provava, ci riusciva spesso e volontieri.
Mary
(remove "nospam" to reply)
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Under construction

...
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No doubt Salvatore will correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember reading
somewhere that she's called "Felicità Teladà".
I forgot to mention in my earlier post that "shag" is a bit of a dated word; I
don't think it's used a lot nowadays, but it was very popular in the late
Sixties, which I think is the period when the film was set. Everybody had
suddenly discovered sex, and was getting very excited about it. Anybody remember
"The Knack"?
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I forgot to mention in my earlier post that "shag" is a bit of a dated word
Non è vero,se guardi game on su canal jimmy (tele film inglese ) lo
dicono a tutte le puntate
Francesco

"The Knack"?
<<<You mean the film ?
       I saw it more than 15 years ago and I don't remember it that well.
       Yours
Sal

 Sixties, which I think is the period when the film was set.
Btw, c'e' un cammeo di Baccara e Costello...
Ciao a tutti


Baccara ? Forse era Baccarat, ma era nel primo film, con scene ambientate a
Las Vegas ;-))))
Come si usa dire qui, sorry, but I couldn't resist.
Beninteso si tratta di Burt Bacharach (effettivamente presente anche nel
primo film nelle scene a Las Vegas, ma non con una tovaglia verde sulla
testa e delle carte da gioco appiccicate sopra) ed Elvis Costello.
Ciao
Giorgio

testa e delle carte da gioco appiccicate sopra) ed Elvis Costello.
E sul *cammeo* non hai voluto infierire, eh? :-)
Diciamo che Paolo ha voluto scherzare, mentre temiamo che abbia fatto sul
serio...!
Anna

 E sul *cammeo* non hai voluto infierire, eh? :-)
:)))))
Pensavo d'averlo detto... Baccara e' mia moglie, da li il _doppio_ giochino!
ok ok
cazzata! Sigh!
Hai controllato se il tuo vocabolario (per caso eh?) non riporti anche
cammeo? ;)
Un bacio... ma si cia' anche a Buongiorno ;)
P.S. E con questo colpo ho usato tutto il culo d'ottobre :))) (translation
available for a "prezzo ottimo" at paola.b) ;)

 available for a "prezzo ottimo" at paola.b) ;)
Qui non è la traduzione che fa difetto, non ho proprio capito un ostrega (1)
del tuo poscritto, a parte l'accenno all'ineffabile paola.b, la quale la sua
funzioncina serenante di parafulmine incomincia a svolgerla.
Ciao
Giorgio
(1) Ostrega: ostrica in dialetto veneziano. "Non ho capito un ostrega"="Non
ho capito nulla"

del tuo poscritto...
Mi associo e mi perplimo
Anna

and Bambi discussed the meaning of the world "Shag".
question: wasn't it .....Bambi and I ?
Thanks in advance (mmm ......too commercial?)
CC

question: wasn't it .....Bambi and I ?
   It is, but I am a very rude person, I'm a shingoist pig and I always put
my name before
women's names:
KIDDING FOLKS!!!!

...
a shingoist pig and I always put
Oh ,dear me I meant chauvunist !
Shame on me !


Unless you belong to some strange Chinese sect, the expression you're looking
for is "male chauvinist pig".   :-))
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 for is "male chauvinist pig".   :-))
Really ? I thought that a "shingoist pig" was a selfish young swine refusing
to sign the Organ Donation Form before being slaughtered.
Ciao
Giorgio

for is "male chauvinist pig".   :-))
Why do you treat me so unkindly ?
I have mended my ways, haven't I ?

 for is "male chauvinist pig".   :-))
sorry, but... SCIOVINISTA?
Ma significa un'altra cosa... isn't it sexist?
bie (italian sound ;))

Good appetite
Non lasciare mai la cucina mentre cucinare il risotto!!
Ciao,
Ron
USA

 I have mended my ways, haven't I ?
Sorry Sal, I posted my correction before yours came up on my server.
But I wasn't unkind, was I?
By the way, you don't say "good appetite" in English (I'm sure we had a thread
about that not long ago).
If you sit down to eat with other people, you say nothing at all.
If you say it to somebody who's just going off to eat somewhere, you can say
"enjoy your lunch".
Mary
(remove "nospam" to reply)
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(under construction)

 bie (italian sound ;))
"Chauvinist" means xenophobic.
"Male chauvinist pig" (or MCP) means sexist (maschilista).
IIRC the expression was invented in the early days of feminism. "Sexist" is
perhaps a little more common nowadays.
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Goodness, have they invented shin transplants?
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 Goodness, have they invented shin transplants?
Well, ehm, not exactly transplants. A sort of.
Actually, after the pig has been slaughtered by a highly qualified
specialist, the shins are explanted, then the shins undergo a high
temperature thermal process in order to ensure a better preservation of the
organs, then, finally, these shins are served with potatoes. :-)))
Ciao
Giorgio

about that not long ago).
<<<I'm kneeling before Your Majesty


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I checked all my slang dictionaries
(snip)

Dear Giorgio,
ROTFL.
I remain, as always,
Bambi
dtb
Buongiorgio ha scritto
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it has taken on a broader mantle.
I know only the same meaning, unless your talking about a shag carpet. At this
point, it can have two different meanings depending on whether you refer to the
weave or the activity performed upon it.
Despite the ubiquitous marketing campaign for this movie, I would guess that
most Americans don't know the colloquial meaning of this thoroughly British
word.
Ciao,
Ron
USA

word.
<<<Should I throw my ultra informed dictionary in the dustbin ?
      A bereaved
       Sal

<<<Should I throw my ultra informed dictionary in the dustbin ?
Sal, you probably already know this, but dictionaries take different approaches
to indicating frequency of usage. That doesn't make them useless, but I'll
return to this subject later. First, in rereading the definitions from your
dictionaries, they sparked my memory of two related but different meanings of
the word "shag."
1. Although I have never heard "shag" used precisely as "to chase something
(almost entirely limited to use by boys between 8 and 15 years old)," I have
heard it used as baseball terminology "to shag fly balls." This is not at all
related to shagging fly girls in which "fly" is a description of attractiveness
but instead refers to "repeatedly (for practice) catch balls hit high in the air
with a baseball bat." Of course this does involve some chasing of the fly
balls. I also have a dim recollection of the use of the word in regard to
catching criminals but can't recall an instance. In that case, my vivid
imagination may be recreating reality.
2. Although I never heard "shag" used as "to wiggle, to shake, to toss about"
there was once a dance craze called the Shag. I believe it was a 50's phenomenon
with its origin at the beachfront community of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It
did involve wiggling and shaking but I would reserve the "tossing about"
description to more modern Mosh Pit dancing.
Back to the dictionary topic at hand... dictionaries have a difficult task in
describing frequency of usage. Of course, they number the definitions and the
smaller the number the higher the relative frequency of use, but there is no
real standard quantitative measure of distinction between the definitions. Also,
dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive, so they may list nonstandard
uses of a word. Some identify these entries as nonstandard and some do not.
For example, the word "literally" is commonly used and misused in American
speech. It means (among other things) "in a literal manner, not figurative or
metaphorical." Still, people often use it instead of its exact opposite
"virtually." They might say, "it was literally Hell having to sit through that
movie." If that were true, given the quality of some movies, our future
prospects may be more terrifying for us than we had ever imagined. Even so, some
dictionaries have begun to list this "figurative" definition among the entries
for "literally." And, in fact, some neglect to identify it as nonstandard. As a
result, there are some malinformed pseudo-linguists populating newsgroups who
defend this misuse of the word. (At least I never present myself as a linguist,
'cause I'm not.)
While I'm on the subject of misused words and the malinformed, if I hear one
more person say "absolutely" in response to a question, instead of what they
really mean--"no, you don't really understand what I'm saying, but I want to
agree with you so I can continue talking," or in some cases, "I don't really
know with absolute certainty, but I want you to think I do," I will virtually
blow a gasket!!!
Errrrrr.
Okay, I'm feeling better now.
Ciao,
Ron
USA

 wrote in message 7tif3t$suv$1...@nslave1.tin.it...
| 
| Ron ha scritto nel messaggio ...
| >I know only the same meaning, unless your talking about a shag carpet. At
| this
| >point, it can have two different meanings depending on whether you refer to
| the
| >weave or the activity performed upon it.
| >
| >Despite the ubiquitous marketing campaign for this movie, I would guess
| that
| >most Americans don't know the colloquial meaning of this thoroughly British
| >word.
| 
| 
| <<<Should I throw my ultra informed dictionary in the dustbin ?
| 
| 
|       A bereaved
|        Sal
| 
| 

Dear Salvatore,
Only to say  please don't be bereaved (have a glass of bolly instead and see
what miracles it will work), and don't throw your ultra-informed dictionary
in the dustbin. It will come in handy soon, I can feel it. A woman just
knows these things.
I remain, as always
Bambi
dtb
Salvatore Santangelo ha scritto:
[...].
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<<<I will , as a homage to the woman who knows,to the Queen who taught me
        bolly , which neither of my four dictionary quotes.
"Am I right in using Neither Here" ?
Enthusiast about collaborative learning
Sal


You won't find "bolly" in the dictionary, because it's an abbreviation for
the tradename "Bollinger".
"Neither" is generally used for just two things; I would use "none" for more
than two ("which none of my four dictionaries mentions").
Mary
(remove "nospam" to reply)
---
Clinton Medical Dictionary: Artery: the study of paintings.

the tradename "Bollinger".
E io che credevo venisse da "bollicine"... :-)))
Anna


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OK, enlighten us; what's a Stoly?
Mary
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Eleven tons of hair stolen.  Police combing area.

...
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