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old hand
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old hand
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Yup. That's what it means to me. However......
The Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, by Tony Thorne, has this to say:
"Cheesy - adj.
unpleasant, unsavoury, squalid, disreputable, underhand. The original notion of smelly cheese has encompassed a number of nuances of distaste.
- 'a cheesy place.'
- 'a cheesy thing to do.' "
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Okay then, serious question. What's the difference between a cheesy grin and a shit-eating grin?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I don't use either expression, so I'm not sure, but to me the former (which I hate so much I can't type it) implies, "uh oh--I'm caught in the act, and I'm embarrassed", whereas the s-e one would imply, "I'm caught in the act and I'll suffer for it, but the wrong I've just done you was worth it, ha ha". Reminds me of a stubborn friend, who, at six years old, consciously decided that not getting to go out to recess was preferable to eating the school lunch on fried chicken liver days.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Re:unpleasant, unsavoury, squalid, disreputable, underhand-
yes, well in a world of natural cheeses-- which can have very powerful, and 'interesting'aromas-- cheesy would not often be something pleasant..
-- and there is always the title expression.. a cheesy grin is prehaps one made after cutting the cheese?
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old hand
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old hand
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Yeah, what Jackie said.
Except that I don't associate guilt with a cheesy grin, only that to me it implies a false, over-done smile; with s**t-eating grin, I agree with Jackie's definition entirely.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Corny may have been originally derived from cornpone, the adjective, as in 'corpone humor' or 'what a cornpone idea'. (Cornpone, the noun, is a certain type of corn bread...right, Jackie?  ) from the AHD: cornpone
SYLLABICATION: corn·pone
PRONUNCIATION: kôrn pn
VARIANT FORMS: or corn pone
NOUN: Chiefly Southern & Midland U.S. See johnnycake. See Regional Notes at johnnycake, light bread, pone.
ADJECTIVE: Informal Folksy and homespun, as in manner or speech: a penchant for cornpone humor; cornpone political prose.And a belated merry welcome, websafe, to our roving band of Wordable Herdables! 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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We do have a tendency to stereotype, don't we? I know it predates radio and television; I've read books written in the 1800's that say things like 'you know those (fill-in-the-blanks)--they're all (fill-in-the-blank)'. But electronic media sure can help them spread. I caught a snippet on TV the other night, when somebody was telling how the guy who, I believe, started what became the Grand Ole Opry, would insist that all the performers dress like country bumpkins, and also made groups change their names to sound like what he thought would fit this image. For example, one group auditioned as "Joe Blow and his amalgamated music orchestra"; the guy hired them but made them change the name to something like "Joe Blow and his cornpone string band". Odd. But then, I suppose, one man's vision is another man's nightmare. [deliberately refusing to use PC terminology e] That reminds me: don't call me no herdable! [kicking over the traces e]
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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reinforcing stereotypes -- cornponeAnd, yet, Jackie, Hee Haw was a hit for decades milking that stereotypical cornpone humor for all it was worth. And everybody loved it. Especially the Southern rural crowd, the target audience for whom the show was originally developed in Nashville. But I think Hee Haw worked so well because everybody knew they (the performers) weren't taking themselves seriously at all. Then, of course, there's the comic classic, and wonderful Broadway show, Al Capp's L'il Abner...you jes' cain't get more cornpone then Dogpatch, USA! There was even a major character named Jubilation T. Cornpone! http://www.lil-abner.com/The comic, Barney Google/Snuffy Smith, and the 60's TV hit, The Beverly Hillbillies need a mention here, too. But then again, none of the above seemed to take thenselves too seriously, did they? People loved them because they were so corny! And made no pretension about it! " I'm pickin'...he's grinnin'!"
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Hee Haw was a hit for decades milking that stereotypical cornpone humor for all it was worth. And everybody loved it.
Make that everybody minus one, then. I hated it. To me, there is often a fine line between comedy and stupidity, and that show was definitely stupid and NOT funny. I was going to add, ...and never the twain shall meet, but that's not true, either. There were lots of Lucy episodes where she did something stupid that I thought were hilarious, and I also (mostly) thought Gomer Pyle's stupidity was pretty funny--until he got his own show, at least.
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old hand
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old hand
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My brother and I enjoyed watching Hee Haw and The Beverly Hillbillies when we were in elementary school.
Nuff said.
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