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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread As if I could give a hang #75146 07/05/2002 4:39 PM Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 6,296 Piedmont Region of Virginia, U... Wordwind Carpal Tunnel Wordwind Carpal Tunnel Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 6,296 Piedmont Region of Virginia, U... "As if I could give a hang!" Now what could be the derivation of that phrase? Has it already been discussed? Are you gonna say, "LIU!" Are you gonna pull "YART" on me? As if I could give a hang! No, really, rudeness aside from the very bored, very irritable Wordwind, I really would love to know where that terrifically useful phrase comes from because I really do give a hang about it, whatever a hang is. I better be careful here since I don't know what a hang is! Bored regards, WordWilting Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: As if I could give a hang #75147 07/05/2002 4:46 PM Joined: Oct 2000 Posts: 5,400 rego park of troy Carpal Tunnel of troy Carpal Tunnel Joined: Oct 2000 Posts: 5,400 rego park Interesting idiom.. i would guess, Damn gave way to dang.. and dang morphed into hang.. "as if i could give a damn" = "as if i could give a hang" just as "YO" is realy "here"-- it followed the same path as Whore did to end up as "hoe". William Safire covered the changes some years ago.. my other obsession Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: As if I could give a hang #75148 07/05/2002 4:57 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 wwh Carpal Tunnel wwh Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 Dear WW: I think it is a stock phrase used by uninventive types. You just start with "I don't give a __________ and then fill blank from a long liest: a shit, a turd, a damn, f..., etc, etc. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: As if I could give a hang #75149 07/06/2002 2:40 AM Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont similar to my middle school students who are so pleased to be able to say: "shi....take mushroom".... formerly known as etaoin... Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: As if I could give a hang #75150 07/08/2002 3:38 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 1,819 Spam Factory Alex Williams Pooh-Bah Alex Williams Pooh-Bah Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 1,819 Spam Factory I've never heard "hang" used in that context. I have heard it used frequently as the truncated form of "to hang in there," i.e. to endure. For example: Joe started to train to be a Navy S.E.A.L. but the training was so tough that he couldn't hang, so he quit. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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