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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
"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
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
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..
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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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.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
similar to my middle school students who are so pleased to be able to say:
"shi....take mushroom"....
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819 |
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.
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