Use of the expression "that sucks" in conversation

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bmaj

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Am I the only one who gets really upset to hear this term constantly throughout the day in conversations when someone means “that’s horrible”? Males, females, Catholics, Christians, so many it seems, and I cringe every time I hear it! Am I just being a prude? I try to be open-minded with co-workers and friends, but it really bothers me and seems to have become second nature to so many people. It must be the connection to oral sex in my mind that gets me disgusted, but even people who don’t usually use foul language will use that term and think nothing of it.
 
I confess…I am guilty of this. For some reason when I use the expression, I see this huge vortex of black hole sucking everything up and making it all a mess! But you are right, I think it is meant to have a sexual connotation, so I should probably be more careful!!!
 
The wiki definition seems to be stretching things a bit. I certainly don’t think that “this sucks” was common in conversation until after it had a sexual connotation. No one ever said “go bite an egg” did they? 😉 I do like the image of a giant vortex, but I still avoid this phrase and wince inside when I hear it.

I am sure there is a prayer for a pure tongue/conversation. I’ll try to find one and post it for us all.
 
bmaj, you’re not alone I completely agree with you!!! Maybe the expression didn’t have the origin we’re thinking of, but when you hear ‘that sucks’ or ‘that blows’ come out of especially a woman or girls mouth…well it’s really not very becoming is it? :ouch::doh2:

A couple of years ago my daughter, who was 9 at the time, said it and I just about lost my mind right there. :eek::eek: She was of course repeating what she’d heard at school, but she for sure knows now not to EVER say that again in my presence!

It’s tacky when anyone says it, but there is just something really…super tacky about it when a woman says it IMHO:shrug:
 
I really hate to hear that too! But back in my college days, when someone was offended or just even telling someone they were joking around with to stop, they said, “Eat me!” and now I just die to remember it. We have to think and use words that don’t mean something we really really don’t mean!
 
To be honest, I never knew there was a sexual connotation until I was 20 years old. Someone used it over the walkie-talkies when we were on a mission trip, and the kid got publicly rebuked by the leader. The vast majority of us were like, huh?🤷

I don’t find it offensive, personally.
 
I seldom hear the phrase used with sexual connotations. In fact, most of the time the precedent of the pronoun “that” is inanimate.
 
I find use of the expression vulgar and rude. Here is a link to a discussion on the same topic back in 6/08, followed by my initial post to that thread.

Am I the only one who still thinks this word is vulgar?
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=246774
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SwizzleStick:
I agree that ss is a vulgar word. I cringe whenever I hear it. Another word that I find vulgar and hear quite frequently in its different forms is the word that starts with “p” and rhymes with “kiss.” Mostly, I hear that so-and-so is "p**-off" about something or someone says "that really pes me off." Whenever I hear those words I try not to judge the user, but several impressions about the user come to mind anyway: vulgar, crude, rude, base, gross, uneducated. I cannot begin to imagine that anyone would ever use s* (or p***) in business writing (or even casual writing for that matter). Even so, I guess it is not surprising since a good number of people in our society regularly pepper their conversations with the word f*** (starts with “f”, rhymes with truck) in its different forms without even thinking twice.

For what it is worth, I do not think the word “stinks” is vulgar, just very casual and a bit earthy.
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Oh geez.

personal rant about to start
feel free to skip!🙂

I think this is yet another example of people seeing sex in everything, even when it’s not there.

I say this often, bad habit I suppose.🤷

but to be fair, I do not and never have meant it in any fashion whatsoever sexually. In fact, I honestly had never leaped to that connotation until a fellow catholic blew a gasket at me saying it and told me so 3 years ago. Frankly, I thought she was rather twisted to think like that. And personally don’t understand how her attitude and telling me that (in front of my kids no less) was acceptable but use of a common nonsexually intended phrase in a topic not about sex was not.:rolleyes:

I have never met anyone ever who said that and meant or even thought of it as a sexual reference.

**That’s kind of like hearing “that stinks” and instantly thinking "that’s *t" simply because poo stinks. Well it might, but that doesn’t mean there’s any connotation between the two.

Drives me nuts.

**It’s nothing more than a common phrase that means something unpleasant. **

A couple weeks ago, a christian (this time not catholic) about fell over in horror because wehn asked why I like a certain type of workbook paper, I said, "Because when they screw up whatever they write in it, they can erase it better and the other book it sweared and looks a worse mess."

She was agast at the word for a common household tool or a general term for a mistake or difficult situation.

Ug. Sure I could have used a different word but h****ow about we not presume people are talking about sex unless they are?

Reminds me of a country song…🙂

Ok mild rant over.😃
 
This is what the etymology dictionary says about ‘suck’
suck
O.E. sucan, from PIE root *sug-/*suk- of imitative origin (cf. O.S., O.H.G. sugan, O.N. suga, M.Du. sughen, Du. zuigen, Ger. saugen “to suck;” L. sugere “to suck,” succus “juice, sap;” O.Ir. sugim, Welsh sugno “to suck”). Meaning “do fellatio” is first recorded 1928. Slang sense of “be contemptible” first attested 1971 (the underlying notion is of fellatio). Suck eggs is from 1906. Suck hind tit “be inferior” is Amer.Eng. slang first recorded 1940.
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whatever the ‘real’ meaning, it just doesn’t sound very nice coming out of a woman’s mouth to me, I guess I’m a prude yet again, c’est la vie:shrug:😉
 
I think age is a factor in whether or not one is bothered by use of the word, unless the youngsters learn the origin of the expression. Since the young so rountinely use it now, I’m pretty sure that they are not offended by it and some of the older folks may have accepted that the meaning has changed, so maybe that is why it is also used by the not-so-young.

I’ve forbidden my kids to use it (and explained to my 13-year old what it meant when I was her age). I find it offensive and vulgar and the user doesn’t do his/her reputation any favors in my view by using it, because that is what it still means to me upon hearing it, unless the topic happens to be a vacuum cleaner :D.
 
Here is Merriam Webster **with **link

merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suck
Main Entry: 1suck
Pronunciation: \ˈsək
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English suken, from Old English sūcan; akin to Old High German sūgan to suck, Latin sugere
Date: before 12th century
transitive verb 1 a : to draw (as liquid) into the mouth through a suction force produced by movements of the lips and tongue <sucked milk from his mother’s breast> b : to draw something from or consume by such movements c : to apply the mouth to in order to or as if to suck out a liquid <sucked his burned finger>
2 a : to draw by or as if by suction <when a receding wave sucks the sand from under your feet — Kenneth Brower> <inadvertently sucked into the…intrigue — Martin Levin> b : to take in and consume by or as if by suction <a vacuum cleaner sucking up dirt> <opponents say that malls suck the life out of downtown areas — Michael Knight>i

ntransitive verb 1 : to draw something in by or as if by exerting a suction force; especially : to draw milk from a breast or udder with the mouth
2 : to make a sound or motion associated with or caused by suction <his pipe sucked wetly> <flanks sucked in and out, the long nose resting on his paws — Virginia Woolf>
3 : to act in an obsequious manner <when they want votes…the candidates come sucking around — W. G. Hardy> —usually used with up <sucked up to the boss>
4 slang : to be objectionable or inadequate <our lifestyle sucks — Playboy> <people who went said it sucked — H. S. Thompson>
— suck it up : to make the effort required to do or deal with something difficult or unpleasant
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Doesn’t seem objectionable to me. Maybe I just use nicer dictionaries that stick to the basics.
 
The word origin definitely comes from a reference to fellatio but that doesn’t mean that the the way the word is used now has anything sexual about it. Sucks is completely divorced now from any reference to a sex act. You have to really remind someone about where the word comes from before they even think about the connection. Besides sucks has that beautiful hard “k” at the end which makes it really fun to pronounce.
 
shannyk said:
This is what the etymology dictionary says about ‘suck’

whatever the ‘real’ meaning, it just doesn’t sound very nice coming out of a woman’s mouth to me, I guess I’m a prude yet again, c’est la vie:shrug:😉
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Thanks for the excerpt from the etymology dictionary. That might clarify for those who don’t find it offensive why it is offensive to others and why it isn’t a stretch to see that it actually does refer to a certain act.
 
I use it as a means to say “that’s terrible” Or “that’s horrible” Or “wow that’s just sad!” Or “wow that’s bad luck!” I say it without the connection of anything sexual, I think something sucks when things are not going well like the day my first husband’s wedding ring got sucked into the vaccuum, lol, or sucked down the drain of the shower…Yeah pretty bad stuff! LOL So I don’t really associate it with anything sexual…

I don’t know…Maybe that’s just me and I do say it but like I said without really trying to make a sexual comment or anything like that…
 
I told my children to never use that phrase around me. I explained that I thought it would be wise to avoid saying it EVER because it could leave a bad impression of them on others. I explained that I understood that they would not mean it the way some would react to it, but that it could be viewed as offensive whether they meant it that way or not. I asked if it would be better to avoid using the phrase altogether to prevent possibly leaving a negative impression and possibly being offensive or to go ahead and say it and risk sounding vulgar and offending someone. They accepted that it made sense to just avoid using it, considering that is a simple thing to do.
 
🤷 My very devoutly Irish Catholic grandmother and great-aunts were very fond of the expression, “Don’t teach your granny how to suck eggs!”

I never thought it was vulgar. Though as a kid, it was kinda embarrassing to think of my granny sucking eggs!! 😃
 
Sigh…the commonness of phrase is just another example of of how low out society has become.
 
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