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JeJuJitsu
Joined: 11 Sep 2005
Location: McDonald's
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 Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 5:21 am Post subject: "That sucks" = "bad speaking?" |
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Alright, got blind-sided today when my new co-teacher girl, fresh out of college, caused an uproar, saying to my students that I was teaching a dirty word.
I'm doing this lesson on expressing disappointment, the starter phrase being, "I can't go to the movies with you tonight, my mom says I have to finish my homework."
I then have about 10 replies on the handout, the first few being more formal/polite:
#1 being "That is disappointng!"
and getting more relaxed as you go down the list,
#10 being, "That sucks!"
Now I always do my lessons this way--first few are formal, the last few are almost "fun," "slang," type answers (I'll even make #10, "Yo! Dude" and whatnot on some material).
Anyway, my co-teacher told the students (in Korean) that "That sucks" is "bad speaking," meaning "to suck something on a man." Now I didn't find any of this out until after class, one of my boy students who is in my afterschool drama club, asked me why I taught them a phrase for "BJ."
I just kinda went into a long explaination that yeah, if you say "suck my ____" it is bad speaking, but you have toay it that way. "Suck" by itself just means to "draw into your mouth" "That sucks" is slang for "Awwww. That's too bad."
Anyway, first, I'm livid at my co-teacher, and second, wondering, "Hmmm, is "that sucks" a swear word phrase? I googled it, as far as any on-line dictionary and whatnot, nothing with "that" sucks comes up as being offensive.
Anyway, maybe I'm wrong. THoughts? |
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laogaiguk
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: somewhere in Korea
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| Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 5:23 am Post subject: |
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| The whole situation sucks, and so does your co-teacher. Had problems with him before??? Anyways, that sucks is not bad where I am from. |
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ChuckECheese
Joined: 20 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 5:28 am Post subject: |
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| my new co-teacher girl |
Your co-teacher sucks for saying "that sucks" is a dirty word.  |
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heydelores
Joined: 24 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 5:31 am Post subject: |
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| I wouldn't consider it vulgar, but I think "that sucks" is generally pretty rude. I only use it on a very rare occasion among peers. I would not use it with students. |
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gang ah jee
Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Location: city of paper
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| Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 5:32 am Post subject: Re: "That sucks" = "bad speaking?" |
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| JeJuJitsu wrote: |
| Anyway, my co-teacher told the students (in Korean) that "That sucks" is "bad speaking," meaning "to suck something on a man." Now I didn't find any of this out until after class, one of my boy students who is in my afterschool drama club, asked me why I taught them a phrase for "BJ." |
Seems to me that she was the one who taught them about BJs. Sucks to be her.
I think 'sucks' in its normal non-fellatio sense is perfectly reasonable to teach students. Part of communicative competence is being able to command a wide verbal repertiore in terms of register. |
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JeJuJitsu
Joined: 11 Sep 2005
Location: McDonald's
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| Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 5:41 am Post subject: |
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| heydelores wrote: |
| I wouldn't consider it vulgar, but I think "that sucks" is generally pretty rude. I only use it on a very rare occasion among peers. I would not use it with students. |
In response to "I can't go to the movies?" Wouldn't it be an empathetic reply--identifying with the disappointment of not being able to see a movie?
Maybe if I taught it as a critical saying as in "The painting that you drew sucks." That would be vulgar, but when used as expressing empathy? I dunno, I wish I would have just used "That stinks..." |
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Qinella
Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Location: the crib
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| Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 5:46 am Post subject: |
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| Your co-teacher acted unprofessionally. Even if that's where the term came from, it's not cool to explain something like that to kids. I had a student last week who, in answer to a question about why Nicky the dog helped a kitten, responded by writing, "Nicky likes to make love to cats." Did I explain to him that make love means sex? Noo... I just changed his grammar. Same thing when a kid told me about a "pocket monster" he had. Hehe.. okay, great. Don't need to talk about sex to children. |
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Pyongshin Sangja
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Location: I love baby!
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| Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 5:49 am Post subject: |
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| Are you so dense that you didn't realise where that came from? |
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Pak Yu Man
Joined: 02 Jun 2005
Location: The Ida galaxy
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| Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 5:57 am Post subject: |
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Doesn't matter where it came from...it's the context it's used. Did the OP teach his kids "That sucks ass"?
It's the co-teacher that's in the wrong. I'd give her hell tomorrow. You know she's going to tell everyone that you are one of those pedo ES teachers who only talk about sex.
Perv!  |
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Pyongshin Sangja
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Location: I love baby!
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| Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 5:57 am Post subject: |
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Um, no. You people obviously never graduated from the barn-dance.
They'll show you how to suck there, if you want. |
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gang ah jee
Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Location: city of paper
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| Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 5:58 am Post subject: |
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| Pyongshin Sangja wrote: |
| Are you so dense that you didn't realise where that came from? |
Student A: I can't go to the movies with you tonight, my mom says I have to finish my homework.
Student B: That sucks cock! |
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Pyongshin Sangja
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Location: I love baby!
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| Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:00 am Post subject: |
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A: I sucked so much last night. I thought I would never stop sucking.
B: You suck!
A: Hey, that hurt my feelings. You have to think about the context.
B: That sucks! |
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ChuckECheese
Joined: 20 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:03 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
A: I sucked so much last night. I thought I would never stop sucking.
B: You suck!
A: Hey, that hurt my feelings. You have to think about the context.
B: That sucks! |
LOL |
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JeJuJitsu
Joined: 11 Sep 2005
Location: McDonald's
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| Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:09 am Post subject: |
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| Pyongshin Sangja wrote: |
| Are you so dense that you didn't realise where that came from? |
Yup. Furthermore, I just wasn't thinking sexually at all when making the handout. I was racking my brain to think of a slang term for disappointment...thinking, "How would a teenager in North America express disappointment in not being able to go to the moves."
I'm aware that it is part of the "dysphemism treadmill"--similar to the concept of the euphemism treadmill. In these cases, notions of profanity, obscenity and other words once called "offensive" are later described as "objectionable", then "questionable", and in some cases, they reach near- or outright acceptability.
Many of the same subjects can be dysphemized as euphemized, such as sex and death�a well-thought-of dead person may be said to have passed away, a disrespected one to have kicked the bucket or to be worm food. Oddly, some humorous expressions can be both euphemistic and dysphemistic depending on context: for example spank the monkey might be used as either a softer alternative to "masturbate", or as a more deliberately provocative one depending on the audience. Likewise, pushing up daisies can be taken as either softer or harsher than "died". This is because terms which can be dysphemic can also be affectionate.
http://www.answers.com/topic/dysphemism
-jerk
-that sucks
-scumbag
all at one point had obscene roots, but are not any more. Are we to go by what the word meant 70 years ago, or present usage? |
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Pyongshin Sangja
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Location: I love baby!
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| Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:12 am Post subject: |
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Hey, man, I am all in favour of sucking. You're just ahead of the curve, that's all. Suck on, my man. Suck on.
Last edited by Pyongshin Sangja on Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:20 am; edited 1 time in total |
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