Wordsmith Talk |
About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us | |||
Register Log In Wordsmith.org Forums General Topics Weekly Themes defenestrate
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Originally Posted By: lissyjIn lieu of revealing my checkered past, let me just say this; When torturing a prisoner in the Viet Nam era, this meant to put out their eyes. Also, and quite a bit less disgusting, in boxing lingo it occurs when the eyes swell shut. Both the Three Stooges and W. C. Fields used this expression and it was a favorite of Groucho Marx.
Perhaps the etymological connection for this comes from 'fenetre', the French word for 'window' (and the architectural connection noted by another poster on this topic). If the 'eyes are the window to the soul', perhaps this particular (and awful) form of torture makes reference to this metaphor.
Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted defenestrate lissyj 07/07/09 08:20 PM Re: defenestrate sshowalter 07/07/09 10:26 PM Re: defenestrate olly 07/07/09 11:11 PM Re: defenestrate latishya 07/07/09 11:34 PM Re: defenestrate olly 07/07/09 11:47 PM Re: defenestrate tsuwm 07/07/09 11:58 PM Re: defenestrate BranShea 07/08/09 07:09 AM Re: defenestrate tsuwm 07/08/09 07:15 AM Re: defenestrate zmjezhd 07/08/09 01:06 PM Re: defenestrate olly 07/08/09 07:50 AM Re: defenestrate BranShea 07/08/09 11:18 AM Re: defenestrate Faldage 07/08/09 11:42 AM Re: defenestrate Faldage 07/08/09 11:50 AM Re: defenestrate BranShea 07/08/09 11:50 AM Re: defenestrate tsuwm 07/08/09 04:15 PM Re: defenestrate BranShea 07/08/09 06:04 PM Re: defenestrate tsuwm 07/08/09 07:11 PM Re: defenestrate Faldage 07/08/09 03:27 AM Re: defenestrate alimcq11 07/12/09 03:23 PM Re: defenestrate tsuwm 07/12/09 03:39 PM Re: windows. LukeJavan8 07/13/09 12:29 AM
Moderated by Jackie
Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics Forums16Topics13,913Posts229,412Members9,182 Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members Ineffable, ddrinnan, TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV
9,182 Registered Users
Who's Online Now 0 members (), 907 guests, and 3 robots. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days) A C Bowden 28
Top Posters wwh 13,858Faldage 13,803Jackie 11,613wofahulicodoc 10,583tsuwm 10,542LukeJavan8 9,922Buffalo Shrdlu 7,210AnnaStrophic 6,511Wordwind 6,296of troy 5,400
Forum Rules · Mark All Read Contact Us · Forum Help · Wordsmith.org