Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well...hmmm...[yikes]...this is the problem. "Sucks" is transitive, implying a direct object...and you know what that object is. I'm old enough to remember when this wasn't a common phrase; and even now that it is, I still bridle at young kids using it. And I'm not talking about sucking eggs, which is just a mollification of the curse anyway.
So there are no synonymous verbs that make the same insulting implication about a person (or loosely some thing) sucking that other thing. "This fellates" would be the only equivalent.
English has the widest and most expressive vocabulary of any language. However, I still find there are some gaps in it. For example, there's no direct translation of Spanish "ganas", as in "no tengo ganas de nada".
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,054,732 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by RUNYYfan
I respectfully disagree with your statement that there are "no proper English words" which can adequately convey the derision and abject contempt that may be held for the situation, something, or actions of another person.
Some adjectives that come to mind readily include:
For what it is worth, I try to keep in mind the etymology of the word "sucks" as a caution to help me refrain from using the word among my more genial friends.
As stumbler pointed out none of which are verbs.
None of which would make sense in the following sentence, 'this _____!'
English has the widest and most expressive vocabulary of any language. However, I still find there are some gaps in it. For example, there's no direct translation of Spanish "ganas", as in "no tengo ganas de nada".
There is in the negative though:
No tengo ganas de ir al cine=
I have no wish/inclination to go to the cinema
I'm sure I must have come across hundreds of foreign words with no English equivalent in my time, but the only gap I can think of right now is a word meaning opposite of 'role model'. Also 'Gemuetlichkeit' in German, which is a mixture of happiness, coziness, contentedness etc. I love crazy long German words like 'Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzungen', (velocitynesslimitings = speed limit) and 'Donaudampfschiffaehrtskapitaensjackenknopfloch', meaning 'button hole on the jacket of a captain of a steamship on the River Danube'.
Also there's no real equivalent to 'Bon appetit' in English. 'Enjoy your meal' means the same thing I suppose but I've never heard anybody other than a waiter say it, whereas other languages say their phrase in a wider context, regardless of whether what you're eating is a meal or just a snack.
This sucks covers so many situations that I don't think there are any proper verbs that are its equivalent.
"This frustrates/disappoints/annoys" jumped to my mind first but they all relate to our emotions...whereas this sucks is pretty objective.
Location: Splitting time between Dayton, NJ and Needmore, PA
1,184 posts, read 4,044,370 times
Reputation: 767
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20
As stumbler pointed out none of which are verbs.
None of which would make sense in the following sentence, 'this _____!'
Actually, then, you are taking the original part of speech for "sucks," which is an action word, and attempting to shoe-horn it into a sentence as a descriptor. Hence, you have the reason it is slang and not proper English. Therefore, you will be forever in search of a verb to act as an adjective.
The words I listed above are descriptors, or adjectives, and they require a verb in the form of the word "is" to impart their definition on the subject or noun. This leads to proper English form.
By searching for a verb to misappropriate as an adjective, you have shunned an entire lexicon of words that are present to express the emotions and sense of a situation, entity, or the actions of another person.
English has the widest and most expressive vocabulary of any language. However, I still find there are some gaps in it. For example, there's no direct translation of Spanish "ganas", as in "no tengo ganas de nada".
I wouldn't call them "gaps." Different languages reflect a different culture, some times very different from English, sometimes not so different. For example, there is no trnaslation for "buen provecho" or "bon appetit" b/c, for whatever reason, it isn't customary in English-speaking countries. But I don't think that means that there is a "gap" in a language simply b/c there is a concept that cannot be directly translated. If that were true, then all languages could be shown to have those "gaps."
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
