I made my usual mistake the other day in a letter to a friend and mentioned the expression "damp squid" - it just comes out like that! Googling, I realised that the world is full of people who get it wrong too. It started me thinking about the expression - it is listed in one of the dictionaries that I found as a British and Australian expression. Is this so? Is it used in 'Merka? Canada?
I assume that it has military origins - any thoughts?
Whether you use it or not, can y'all think of good alternatives?
This is what I just found on an online dictionary:
damp squib
noun Racing a horse or dog that starts well but finishes terribly. Also, squib. I'd never heard of the damp squib. Is this racing term the one to which you were referring? This definition doesn't look like a military term. (I'll go look up the URL now...)
http://macquariedictionary.com.au/p/dictionary/slang-d.html
It's also new to me, Jo. Can you use it in a sentence?
edit: I see WW LedIU. Odd word!
Going with the military origin, I always thought that a squib was a fuse (like on an old-fashioned cannon, or on a stick of dynamite), so a damp squib was something that just wasn't going to fly, or something disappointing, sometimes used in the same sense as a "wet blanket" - a downer.
AHD says:
1a. A small firecracker. b. A broken firecracker that burns but does not explode.
So a damp squib, according to b, is a damp, broken firecracker - talk about a disappointment!
a squib, not having much of an explosive effect to begin with, becomes even less efficacious when damp:
[Of obscure origin; perh. intended as imitative of an explosive sound.]
1. a. A common species of firework, in which the burning of the composition is usually terminated by a slight explosion.
‘Squibs are straight cylindrical cases about 6 inches long, firmly closed at one end, tightly packed with a strong composition, and capped with touch-paper’ (1886 Encycl. Brit.).
...
d. fig. or in fig. contexts. damp squib, something that fails ignominiously to satisfy the expectations aroused by it; an anti-climax, a disappointment.
1847 Alb. Smith Chr. Tadpole i. (1879) 20 The literary gentleman having finished, like a damp squib with a good bang, resumed his seat. 1963 Times 6 Mar. 11/3 Possibly because too much was expected of it, the long-range study of Britain's transport needs by a Ministry of Transport group under Sir Robert Hall is something of a damp squib. 1976 Yorkshire Even. Press 9 Dec. 8/5, I came here thinking this Scarborough business would cause fireworks, but I have never known such a damp squib.
(OED2)
I'd say that it's not heard much in the US, outside of the military.
>d. fig. or in fig. contexts. damp squib, something that fails ignominiously to satisfy the expectations aroused by it; an anti-climax, a disappointment.
So now you've got the hang of it - can you think of equivalents?
A squib is a small cylinder made of rolled paper, containing gunpowder and a fuse. If the casing is damp, the casing will burst at relatively low pressure, with consequently disappointingly reduced noise.
>can you think of equivalents?
devoid of sound and fury, signifying nothing. 8 )
()
devoid of sound and fury, signifying nothing. 8 )
Isn't that a quote from William Faulkner's As Hamlet Lay Dying?
>Isn't that a quote from William Faulkner's As Hamlet Lay Dying?
You might need to go back a little further.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
The Bard
[Edit: But you knew that!]
Isn't that a quote from William Faulkner's As Hamlet Lay Dying?
jmh, I was being ridiculous. Haven't you fathomed yet the superficiality of my sense of humor? I stive so hard to
make nothing out of nothing.
My joke was (alas) a damp squib.
I like the sound of "damp squid" even better and wish we could construct a definition for that!
Beat regards,
WordWashedOut
Sorry wordy - I should have guessed - der!
Here's evidence of the damp squid (use "find on this page"):
http://www.theglobalist.com/nor/readlips/2000/10-25-00.shtmlhttp://www.otherkin.net/harmonyDiscord/rants/harmonydiscord.htmlhttp://www.hackwriters.com/Obrother.htmThere are many sightings of the watery seafood to be found. Sea if you can think of a defintion.
>crossthreading here to Vernon's "misquoted" thread?
There is indeed, although I was particularly interested in whether the term was understood outside the UK.
[Edit: Well spotted Max & WW, serves me right for not being up to date with the board, night night, it's too late for me!]
Is there a crossthreading here to Vernon's "misquoted" thread?
Uh, huh.
And Hamlet's wrong;
And Faulker's title is wrong in two ways;
And it's a pain in the butt explaining bad damp squib jokes.
Could "damp squid" be a pretty cool term to describe a redundant statement?
Edit: I will swear off trying to tell jokes and will stick with calculator computations.
Well, yeah, Max. tsuwm was making the cross-reference joke about the misquote--you could tell he was making a joke because of the little double-stacked marshmallow thing he does followed by the right banana, and then I made my damp squib joke, and then jmh misunderstood the damp squib joke, but then saw that it was a joke and provided instances of damp squids used to mean damp squibs, and then the cross references you and jmh were writing about weren't the same cross reference references, and that's all there is to say about that.
And I always thought a "damp squib" was when you squibble with a wet pencil.
>and that's all there is to say about that.
precisely. (cross-threading possibilities abound)