h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The wheel is spinning but the hamster is dead. My personal favorite.

Wait, I realized that, after I had pressed post, this was a mere euphimism for stupidity. Oops.

gone round the twist

Hi guys

? a bit of interim summing up perhaps?

entries seem to be in three groups

Insanity eg "mad"

Educationally subnormal eg "a few xxxxx short of a xxxx"

Stupid - what we all do on occasion like putting a spoonfull of coffee granules into the sugar bowl instead of the cup cos concentrating on something else.

Some of these terms eg "idiot" are technical terms which have slid into invective rather than euphemism. In some early 1900s legislation on dealing with people with low IQ the term idiot was a specific subgroup of measured low intelligence. It became a useful insult and so is now useless as a technical term. Educationally subnormal is unlikely to become invective cos it's got several syllables too many but alas I can see "special needs" going that way.

(talking of invective BBC radio are doing a program on political invective - sounds fun) If the prime minister can talk of someone being "a few sandwiches short of a picnic" then it must be a Politically Correct term mustn't it

Let's face it many of these terms are a form of being rude to someone rather than adding to the variety of the language or accuracy of the description.

There is a lot of regional variation as mentioned but also age variation. Older folk are more likely to remember when a shilling had 12 pence. Interestingly the local expression is "10 pence in the shilling" not 9. I wonder if we're more charitable or whether it's a change reflecting the decimal change in coinage. How many folk have used "shilling" in any other context recently? Younger folk are more likely to refer to the number of cans in a sixpack.

This means that any list will have to have a space at the end for new categories or say that this is the list as at a certain date.

Finally (sighs of relief from all those (2) who've bothered to read this far) do we want this to be searched as a list of euphemisms or a list of insults? The mentally ill have enough problems......

Takes off politically correct hat.
Takes off pedantic suit.
Goes looking for asbestos suit & helmet to deal with flames........

"Not quite with us" is a simple but effective one

Nutty as a fruit

Away with the fairies.

Howling at the moon.

Doolally.

Off his/her rocker.

Round the twist (or bend)

Loopy.

A euphemism I absolutely DESPISE is "mental health consumer" instead of "patient." It's used constantly in support groups and hospitals by people trying to do the right thing. In my opinion, a "consumer" is somebody that belongs in a shopping mall. No one would ever call a heart patient a "heart consumer" or a cancer patient a "cancer consumer." It's like they're saying that it's not ok for the mentally ill to be recognized as genuinely ill, on par with illnesses like diabetes. And the bias carries over into insurance plans, where "physical" complaints are much better covered than "mental" ones, despite the fact that mental illnesses are often caused by physical imbalances in brain chemistry. "Consumer." Add it to the list. Does anybody else out there see red over this term like I do? I would love to hear from you. ~~Been There, Done That

P.S. On a purely frivolous note, I have heard, "Not the sharpest crayon in the box."

"mental health consumer"

Yeeeeeuk

Sounds as if they're eating someone's brain. (Hmmm Hannibal Lecter)

Thanks for warning me about the phrase JE. If I hear it I'll take the liberty of using your comments rather than let the moment slip while I think up my own. If that's OK with you...

Totally Hatstand!

Obscure reference to a character in Viz comic! Saw this somewhere else, and loved it!

Sure Tom, use my arguments all you want. I do try to remember that most people mean well when they say "consumer." JE

Don't worry, no flames from me! It's a good post.

"The lights are on, the gates are down, but there ain't no train coming"'

MC Hawking "Crazy as F***"

But on the serious point JEllenJ made, I've only ever been described as a "patient" which I'm fine about, but what I object to is being described as a "Disorder", which in essence seems to suggest that the mind/perspective I was naturally given to inherit from my childhood is rendered inferior, or somehow "wrong" by virtue of the fact that it doesn't fit with the moral majority's less interesting or exciting emotional norms .

Anyone agree?

Yo kid

Agree 100% You may be known as a *patient* but only the diagnosis may be known as a *disorder*. Mind you that assumes everyone else is in order. Now that's *some* assumption !!

I can't remember if it's come up here before but I'll insert "Harpic" "Clean round the bend" as a lovely bit of, I think, Cockney humour.

I must say I disagree with my learned collegue who said tha these don't add to the richness of the language. The variety and the cleverness of some of them amuse me greatly. And anything that amuses me is important since that's really what Life, The Universe and Everything is there for. Or did you think it had something to dolphins?

Mnya Mnya With Your ludship's permission....



Thankyou M'lud

M'learned colleague has grasped a little of my erudite argument but there is a somewhat more to it than a simple yea or nay.

That a number of the phrases heretofore mentioned are humorous and delightful additions to the freshness and variety of spoken English is in no way to be doubted Mnya Mnya, though perhaps each will have a particular favourite or favourites. The south London reference to the product "Harpic" being particularly risible. The use of certain phrases as mindless invective is nonetheless clear.

However the lighter attributes of the discussion have allowed at least a couple of folk to feel relaxed enough to open up a little of their own personal nightmares to the group as a whole seeking perhaps understanding or just the relief of expressing their anguish in words.

The late and much lamented author of the Hitch Hiker's Guide used some of his emoluments from the dead tree format of the guide to start off a series on the loss of environment and species which had all who saw it thinking more deeply on the matter.

Comic relief is a great time for all involved to join in with the sort of nonsense associated with student rag days but there is never any suggestion that fun is the only or even main purpose of the event.

M'lud - I rest my case

Don't ask me why this came about, but when I heard it, I nearly fell off my seat: Not the sharpest marble in the bag.
There, I've been redeemed. I realize this has nothing to do with "mental health consumers", but that's okay . . .

How can a marble be sharp?

Truth be told, if you don't think it's funny the first time, you'll never think it's funny. A good friend of mine's father thought of that one. He's kind of an unusual guy. So imagine someone who perhaps these euphimisms might describe, using "not the sharpest marble in the bag". Oh well . . .