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#60955 03/22/2002 2:39 PM
Joined: Nov 2000
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wow Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
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A common US euphemism for getting pregnant is "knocked up."
Which caused me some consternation when I heard the phrase on a visit to UK ....

Then there is the old joke about a very pregnant woman crossing the street in front of a large, oncoming truck. The driver braked just in time to miss the mother-to-be and yelled out the window : "Hey Lady! You can get knocked down, too!"


#60956 03/22/2002 9:41 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
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jmh Offline
Pooh-Bah
Pooh-Bah
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>some consternation when I heard the phrase on a visit to UK ....

And at what time were you knocked up?


#60957 03/25/2002 9:56 AM
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679
addict
addict
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679
Well, while I haven't the foggiest notion where it came from, "falling pregnant" is a term I have known for a very long time and didn't even consider as potentially uncommon!

This explains a common term that I've heard over the decades but never quite understood - fallen woman. I knew what it meant but NOT why it was used. The light has shone.

As for my predecessors I have it on good faith that none of them were fairies and they were also far from immaculate!!


#60958 03/25/2002 10:39 AM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
jmh Offline
Pooh-Bah
Pooh-Bah
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I must have been away with the fairies then.


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