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Author Topic: To suck : I don’t know how to use this verb  (Read 705 times)

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To suck : I don’t know how to use this verb
« on: June 28, 2019, 09:36:29 am »
To me it sound a bit... vulgar since I have unspeakable associations in other languages about this verb.

I saw that some of you ladies used. I do not understand the meaning of this phrase “ I keep getting told that I suck at languages.“ google is of no use.
Still learning some languages.

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Irena

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Re: To suck : I don’t know how to use this verb
« Reply #1 on: June 28, 2019, 10:03:44 am »
To suck at something means to be terrible at it.
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Re: To suck : I don’t know how to use this verb
« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2019, 10:27:29 am »
Irena is absolutely right in definition, but in use it is a borderline word.
When I was a kid there were families that thought any use of that word was obscene, so you had to censor yourself accordingly.  At my house it was ok to use, but it was always a kid's slang.  I suck, you suck, this sucks.
Things are a bit looser today but I think there are better ways to express yourself as the word or phrase can sound grating.  Among close friends it can be a useful way to express sympathy - one friend describes something bad that happened at work or in their private life and another can say "That sucks!", but the use where it fits is very narrow and it is easy to sound childish using it.
Finally, it might sound silly, but one way to evaluate a word or phrase is "Would I hear this in a newscast?".  Would a public official or a teacher use the word in an official statement or in a class?  The answer on suck would be no, there is too much baggage in the word.
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Irena

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Re: To suck : I don’t know how to use this verb
« Reply #3 on: June 28, 2019, 11:11:30 am »
Finally, it might sound silly, but one way to evaluate a word or phrase is "Would I hear this in a newscast?".  Would a public official or a teacher use the word in an official statement or in a class?  The answer on suck would be no, there is too much baggage in the word.



But I could totally imagine Trump using it on Twitter. Maybe he already has(?).
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Re: To suck : I don’t know how to use this verb
« Reply #4 on: June 28, 2019, 11:23:22 am »
:-)
Maybe so.
But then knowing how Sofia feels about our beloved President, I doubt she wants to sound like him :-)
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Truman Overby

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Re: To suck : I don’t know how to use this verb
« Reply #5 on: June 28, 2019, 01:32:23 pm »
:-)
Maybe so.
But then knowing how Sofia feels about our beloved President, I doubt she wants to sound like him :-)
Some people hide their true feelings behind a mask of dislike.  ;)
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Re: To suck : I don’t know how to use this verb
« Reply #6 on: June 28, 2019, 07:06:32 pm »
To me it sound a bit... vulgar since I have unspeakable associations in other languages about this verb.

I saw that some of you ladies used. I do not understand the meaning of this phrase “ I keep getting told that I suck at languages.“ google is of no use.

Neal gave a good answer, and Irena did too. But, suck is one of those context-driven words. So, it can mean a lot of different things. You can suck at something, like Irena said, i.e., be a flop at doing something, or it can mean a bad outcome. Or, it can definitely have a vulgar meaning, used the right way, within the right context and with the right words. We all know what THAT meaning would refer to.

But, it’s overall a fairly benign word in its general use. For example, if Icelandair doesn’t give me my upgrade to Sage Class, after I bid on it, THAT would really suck big time!

I don’t know if things have changed, but we didn’t use that word growing up as kids. My parents wouldn’t have liked it, I don’t think. But, that was the 60s. Unless you were using it in its polite normal sense, like sucking your cool-aid through a straw, I didn’t hear it that much. But, then I started hearing it all the time in the 80s, and it started to lose it’s pizazz. But, since it is colloquial you shouldn’t really hear it on TV or see it written (forget youtube news-anything goes there).

But, if you stick with just “I suck at that” or “if Steven doesn’t get his airline Saga Class upgrade to the Fatherland (as Neal and Jerry like to call it) that will REALLY suck” -which we all agree on- you will be fine. No one will misunderstand what you mean.
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Re: To suck : I don’t know how to use this verb
« Reply #7 on: June 28, 2019, 09:03:31 pm »
To me it sound a bit... vulgar since I have unspeakable associations in other languages about this verb.

I saw that some of you ladies used. I do not understand the meaning of this phrase “ I keep getting told that I suck at languages.“ google is of no use.

Just as a little footnote, suck is so commonly used, and normally in a colloquial non-offensive way, that it has to make the list of one of the most-used English words there are, at least in its figurative sense. It’s so common, it reminds me a lot of the German Scheiße, or Scheiß-(with something added to it).

So, you can vulgarize the word easily, and people do all the time. Like you can say, “That’s a really suck-a s s situation.” I’ve heard that a thousand times. And, I’m sure Neal, Jerry and Susan have too.  Of course it’s colloquial and bordering a little on the vulgar side, but very common.  And there are other words its mixed up with too, to even make it more vulgar and still keep its figurative use.

And, I’ve noticed people do like to use it in combination. You could say, for example, “As a piano teacher she sucks.” But, a lot of people would just say “She’s a suck-ass piano teacher to spice it up a bit.

Maybe I’ve just hung around with too many crude people in my life, but I have heard that word used in combination more times than I can remember.
ROT MACHT STARK! Nur tote Fische schwimmen mit dem Strom.  http://www.dielinke-aurich.de/