So people have asked about my tentative list of Modern English kennings

[conuly]

And here it is.

A note: Insults or terms that can be insulting are pretty common. While I included a lot of them, I've declined to include any explicit slurs of the sort that will get you snubbed from polite society - I find them all interesting from an academic distance, but I don't really want to be on the internet saying these things. I'm the arbiter of what sort of slurs get me snubbed from polite society, so if you're thinking "Why include this slur against over religious Christians who push their religion onto others but not that slur against blacks/gays/Muslims", the answer is "because I think that second slur is just a bit more offensive".

I've defined the ones I see less often, or that I've only read in books and never seen IRL, or that I just generally think people might not know.

Man of Steel
Dark Knight
Caped Crusader
Webslinger
skyscraper
boy toy
arm candy
eye candy
gold digger
brown noser
four eyes
night owl
coffin nails for cigarettes (which I always thought was apropos....)
dead soldiers for beer bottles (something I've only seen in books)
gumshoe
treehugger
bookworm
gas guzzler
bad seed
jailbait
grease monkey
Bible thumper
saw bones
brainstorm
dog whistle (politics, that is)
friend of Bill/Dorothy (I'm aware that these are two different groups, but the one is modeled after the other)
muffin top
spitfire (that's an interesting etymology!)
couch potato
robber baron
fool's gold
fat cat
Underground Railroad (I don't know if this counts - do we have another name for this at all?)
pencil pusher
bean counter
legal eagle

I'm also debating with myself whether or not I would count any of the numerous colorful ways to say "vomited". That's like a whole list in and of itself.

Comments

[sovay]

dead soldiers for beer bottles (something I've only seen in books)

I've heard it in the wild, though for empty bottles of whisky rather than beer.

I'm also debating with myself whether or not I would count any of the numerous colorful ways to say "vomited". That's like a whole list in and of itself.

Not to mention the slew of colorful slang for being drunk.

I don't know if "hash slinger" for a short-order cook or server in a restaurant is still current, but it was very popular in the first half of the twentieth century and therefore when you made your original post about kennings, it was the first thing to pop into my head.

[conuly]

Oh, gosh, diner slang is a whole 'nother thing I wanted to catalog and list so badly. I'm sure somebody has done a much better job than I could, but it just sounds so fascinating.

I've never heard "hash slinger" myself, but it might still be extant in some regions.

Not to mention the slew of colorful slang for being drunk.

Or high, or having sex. Or dead, come to think of it - do you think "pushing up daisies" counts? I bet it does. I'm going to count it when I update my list.

[sovay]

Oh, gosh, diner slang is a whole 'nother thing I wanted to catalog and list so badly.

Fortunately, the internet provides!

[conuly]

It generally does!

[conuly]

Heck, I could add a lot of those entries wholesale to my list. And some of them I've heard before, so I probably ought to.

[sovay]

And some of them I've heard before, so I probably ought to.

Go for it!

You want to look into soldiers' slang, too. There is a glorious book by Gordon L. Rottman called FUBAR: Soldier Slang of World War II (2007) which goes above and beyond the usual lists by collecting slang not just from different Anglophone armies but from both sides of the war, including slang from the Red Army and the Imperial Japanese Army. In any case, it's where I learned that German soldiers retreating from Russia referred to the disastrous slog as das Napoleon-Gedächtnis-Rennen—the Napoleon Memorial Race. That still cracks me up.

[conuly]

Soldier slang seems like it'll be rich, there's a good point. And a lot of it is mainstreamed into civilian society by now.

I learned that German soldiers retreating from Russia referred to the disastrous slog as das Napoleon-Gedächtnis-Rennen—the Napoleon Memorial Race. That still cracks me up.

*grin*

I had a history teacher in high school who referred to Hitler as "the man who thought he could out-maneuver Napoleon". And he had a point. If Napoleon couldn't win against the Russian winter, you're not gonna do it either.

[sovay]

And a lot of it is mainstreamed into civilian society by now.

Agreed. Like, I'm not sure about "dog robber" (officer's aide) or "hog caller" (loudspeaker), which were the first two examples of American WWII slang that came to mind just now, but "barracks lawyer" only recently got edged out by "rules lawyer" as far as I can tell (and there's another kenning for the know-it-all).

And he had a point. If Napoleon couldn't win against the Russian winter, you're not gonna do it either.

Word.

[conuly]

Know-it-all, now!

Hog caller is actually a term used for auctioneers, isn't it? I remember that eBay had to go to court (or something) to prevent from its employees having to get trained or licensed in "hog calling". Or maybe I'm making this up? I'm sure I read something about this, but now I'm not finding it.

[sovay]

do you think "pushing up daisies" counts? I bet it does. I'm going to count it when I update my list.

It feels like an edge case to me because it's not (in this phrasing) a compound (although if it were to be teased out into some kind of substantive "those who push up the daisies," I'd feel more sanguine about dropping it into a saga). On the other hand, "crispy critter" for dead-by-fire doesn't present the same problem.

[conuly]

Crispy critter! Do you know, the first time I encountered that phrase it was in an H. M. Hoover book? There it meant being shoved out an airlock. She's truly one of the unsung greats of middle grade sci-fi.

Whee, I'm commenting in tangents today. Sorry.

[sovay]

There it meant being shoved out an airlock.

Okay, then it might have expanded to refer to any fatality, in which case it totally goes on the list.

She's truly one of the unsung greats of middle grade sci-fi.

I associate her with The Delikon (1977), which means I should find out what else she's written.

[conuly]

Pretty sure the book in this case was Away is a Strange Place to Be. Not one of her best, but I still recommend Orvis to any young reader, and Winds of Mars.

I ought to do a re-read!

[stardreamer]

The Rainmakers have an entire song about the various terms for being drunk! If you like garage-band hard-driving rock, I recommend them highly; they should have been superstars but never made it to that level.

Also, I should note here that this song dates from the 90s, and That One Line probably refers to baby boomers, not millennials. You'll know which one I mean.

[sovay]

The Rainmakers have an entire song about the various terms for being drunk!

"The waitress, she got tipsy," damn. That's Tom Swifty-quality.

[stardreamer]

In the same general area, at least. I think the actual Tom Swifty form would be, "It was a profitable night," the waitress said tipsily.

[kitcatwoman]

I recognize all of these except for dead soldiers. i've never heard anyone use that term, nor have I ever read it anywhere. At least, not that I can remember.

[conuly]

It does seem a bit dated to me - I've read it a few times in period books set during WWII, and once in a book written by somebody who grew up during WWII.

[ex_inklessej388]

Funny. When I was in basic we called the beers that people did not finish and left on tables dead soliders.

[conuly]

Well, learning a new lexicon is part of the socialization process into a job like "member of the armed forces". Maybe you all retained a term that the rest of us mostly dropped.

[ex_inklessej388]

Oh, I could go all day with navy lexicon. Here is just a taste:

- stand easy (break time)
- fid (someone who is not good at something)
- shit pump / bag of hammers (someone who is really not good at something)
- con (orders for the ship to move)
- Hey You Captain (Army/Air Force Capt which is the same as a Lieutenant in the Navy and many, many ranks down from a Captain (Navy))
- hands (the worker bees)
- senior hands (the supervisors)
- fucking Officers (pretty clear)
- old man / skipper (pet name for the Captain, which Captain is a pet name for Commanding Officer)
- OS Bloggins (standard blank name for anyone, can also be any rank)
- chit (a piece of paper that says something, like a health chit to get a sick day or a pay chit, which you might call a pay statement)
- salty (adjective, someone with experience at sea)
- Pusser (throw back to Pusser's Rum being the RN official supply, referes to someone doing something by the book or being a rule follower)
- Navy Gravy (ketchup)
- vittles (food stores)
- strung up by the yardarm (expression, when someone is punished for something)
- march the guilty bastard (expression, a summary trial conducted on ship)
- soupy (adjective, in reference to weather, esp fog and snow, "Sure is soupy out there today" or "Looks like pea soup, it's so foggy"
- wavy Navy (reference to the rank insigna that reserve officers used to wear that was wavy as opposed to straight lines, collectively reservists or part-time sailors)
- SHADs (stands for Sundays, Holidays and Disasters or short for SHADow (depending on who you ask), derog. name for reservists)

I could go on and on...

[shehasathree]

I love Caped Crusader and Dark Knight as examples! *g*
Does sawbones count, or is that something that no one ever actually uses in real life these days?

[conuly]

So long as there is Star Trek, at least somebody is using that term!

[plicease]

I know this is the derivation for the nickname "bones" (at least in the Prime timeline) but was the long form "sawbones" ever actually ever uttered in the series?

[conuly]

That's a good question I cannot possible answer. I'm a DS9 fan, never could get into TOS.

[zhelana]

I have no idea what at least half of those are. And what is a skyscraper besides a skyscraper?

[conuly]

Skyscraper was originally a term for a tall ship.

[redbird]

If we weren't so used to that nickname, a tall building, or an office tower or apartment tower for a skyscraper that is basically devoted to one or the other use.

Are you distinguishing between something that has another everyday name, like Superman or Clark Kent instead of Man of Steel, or cigarette instead of coffin nail, and something like skyscraper where that is the everyday name?

[conuly]

Are you distinguishing between something that has another everyday name, like Superman or Clark Kent instead of Man of Steel, or cigarette instead of coffin nail, and something like skyscraper where that is the everyday name?

Usually, yes, but I really, really like the word skyscraper.

[silveradept]

So, possibly something like "Mary Jane" for a particular plant, "Grass smoker" or "pothead" for those who indulge a little, or a lot?

[conuly]

Sounds about right to me.

[redbird]

Kennings as I understand them are nouns, as most of your examples are (except brainstorm); all those synonyms and euphemisms for "vomited," "drunk," or "had sex" feel different in part because they're standing in for verbs or adjectives. I would at least suggest limiting kennings to refer to terms that are basically compound words, whether run together (like bookworm) or not (fool's gold).

[conuly]

Interestingly, I can definitely use "brainstorm" as a noun.

[lunadelcorvo]

Given that modern English has a rather different 'mood' than the languages in which we usually find kennings, and we refer commonly to very different things (how often does one need to refer to a whale road these days?), I think these definitely count!

And I love this so much; you made the language geek in me very happy!!!

(I need a verbivore icon...)

[conuly]

(how often does one need to refer to a whale road these days?)

Depends on how close you live to the sea, I guess. You must admit, "5,000 refugees rescued from the whale road" would catch a few eyes, when the same headline set in the Mediterranean doesn't anymore.

[lunadelcorvo]

Excellent point!!!!

[elf]

I'm familiar with "dead soldiers" from books, but have never heard it from a living person. I've heard "coffin nail," but only as a "clever" term, not as part of casual speech.

Other terms I can think of:
People: High roller, stoner, goody-two-shoes, queen (flaming queen, drag queen, drama queen), wallflower, glory hound

Other: red tape, shade (as in: throwing shade, casting aspersions), greenbacks, (on the) down low, cutting/bleeding edge, dog and pony show

And there are extensive lists of terms related to sex, both the act(s) and various bits of anatomy involved.

[conuly]

Those are some good ones! Though I'm not sure I'd count "stoner". I need to do more research here.

[steorra]

'I'm also debating with myself whether or not I would count any of the numerous colorful ways to say "vomited".'

I'd say no, because that's a verb, and kennings normally replace nouns.

[conuly]

Good point.

[used_songs]

I wonder of this is a local thing, but a lot of my friends call traffic cops who are on the prowl to give tickets "dirty dogs." As in, "Watch out - there's a dirty dog up around the corner. I saw him there on the way over." It's only used in this context and not for any other situation involving a police officer.

[used_songs]

My mom's dad was an oil field "rough neck."