In general, it's generally accepted that men use more profanity than do women. Especially the so-called F-word and some of the others.
Moreover, there is their curious use of the word shit in a context unrelated to fecal matter, as in these contexts:
"I need to get my shit together and move in the dorm tomorrow."
"Brenda kicked me out of the apartment and threw all my shit in the apartment pool." Describing the denouement of a domestic disagreement between roommates.
In other words, these guys verbally equate their possessions with fecal waste.
Now this is not an individual linguistic quirk; but one that many guys use. Contrariwise, I have never encountered a girl or women use the word shit in that context. Try this on:
"I need to move my shit into the sorority house this weekend." Huh?
Is this a sign that men are less comfortable with the fact that they have possessions, or are they positively burdened with the fact of their presence?
Let's face it: most guys are not into extensive care of clothing, ironing, and the like. And many of their things require maintenance.
Is that why they refer to their 'stuff' as their 'shit"? Is it out of peevishness?
Well, I am out on a limb with this one. Obviously, in addition to the possible sex difference is this vocabulary term, are their regional or age-graded differences as well? My experience is largely based on Southerners of the same approximate age as myself. Do Yankee guys refer to their possessions as shit?
So long, old friend.
13 hours ago
10 comments:
That's an interesting observation. I wish I'd thought of it years ago ... I could probably have gotten a good research paper out of it for one of my linguistics classes.
I am a female that has used this, usually saying"I need to get my shit together". I promise I am not a dog that just pooped on the sidewalk:) it's funny how one can use that word and not think of it in a literal manner otherwise it really is quite gross. I have never noticed the difference between men and women using this word in This context.
An interesting observation, indeed.
George Carlin did six minutes on the use of the word "shit" all the way back in 1971 (on his 1971 album "FM & AM"), so yes, Northern guys do refer to their stuff as shit, or at least crap.
Maybe guys don't want to admit that their stuff is important to them, except for their cars.
Reading Dictionary.com, shit has origins back to 800AD. There are more slang uses for shit than its feces definition. Isn't that a bunch of shit?!
I do call it shit even this close to Canada. Of course if it is really GOOD shit then I call it what it is (tools, musical instruments, that sort of thing).
That's some good shit, Angel
I think they say "shit" because they get tired of saying "stuff." Or to sound real cool.
Maybe guys don't want to admit that their stuff is important to them, except for their cars.
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