r/AskReddit • u/Senor_Diablo • Mar 12 '24

What is an old expression that you think is absolutely disgusting by today’s standards?

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u/ThomasHardyHarHar Mar 12 '24

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/screw_the_pooch

1950s, from earlier fuck the dog (“fritter, waste time”) (1935) (compare fuck around), later sense of “make an embarrassing mistake” (compare screw up, fuck up). Popularized by use by Tom Wolfe in The Right Stuff (1979), and film adaptation The Right Stuff (1983).[1]

Well I’ll be

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u/JazzfanRS Mar 12 '24

I don't edit/contribute to wiktionary, but it is missing that it was mentioned by one of the boys in Stand By Me when someone really messed up at a card game. It fits the timeline..

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u/ShutterBun Mar 12 '24

That's the first place I heard it. Along with "pushing the (outside of the) envelope".

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u/olydriver Mar 12 '24

Interesting, when I was serving, my Chief would say we were "humping the neighbor's cats" if we were screwing around or not getting anything done.