Everyone who reads my LiveJournal needs to read this entry in scathedobsidian‘s LiveJournal. This is a matter of the utmost urgency; the fate of the literary world and the English language in general rests on it.
And people, for the love of God, “cum” is not a word.
So, if it’s not a word, what is it? A portrait? A fishtank? To be honest, I never really understood this whole is not a word. In a sense, it’s a paradoxical statement. Not at all like “there is no word for ” which actually makes sense.
Hmm… is “thpth!!!” a word?
It’s an onomatopoeic word representing the concept of a raspberry (or bronx cheer), wouldn’t you say?
So, if it’s not a word, what is it? A portrait? A fishtank? To be honest, I never really understood this whole is not a word. In a sense, it’s a paradoxical statement. Not at all like “there is no word for ” which actually makes sense.
Check out this HOT HOT SUMMA CUM LAUDE action!
Check out this HOT HOT SUMMA CUM LAUDE action!
Why cant “cum” be a word? It is used in the general language of the world (at least in America), it functions are a useful utterance, and slang is finding its way into parlance.
And, it is a word (at least according to dictionary.com)
cum1 ( P ) Pronunciation Key (km, km)
prep.
Together with; plus. Often used in combination: our attic-cum-studio
come
. Vulgar Slang also cum (km)
Semen ejaculated during orgasm.
I usually think of “cum” as the noun and “come” as the verb.
You know, I’ve always wanted to ask the people who write something like “Oh, god, I’m cumming!”–how would you write a character describing the act of orgasm in the past tense? If you say “yesterday I came,” that would imply strongly that the proper use would be “and tomorrow I may come again.”
Why cant “cum” be a word? It is used in the general language of the world (at least in America), it functions are a useful utterance, and slang is finding its way into parlance.
And, it is a word (at least according to dictionary.com)
cum1 ( P ) Pronunciation Key (km, km)
prep.
Together with; plus. Often used in combination: our attic-cum-studio
come
. Vulgar Slang also cum (km)
Semen ejaculated during orgasm.
I usually think of “cum” as the noun and “come” as the verb.
Well then, no cumming for you then. 😛
I’ve been there. It’s no threat to forbid anyone of ever going back. I’ve had enough of lame Atlanta suburbs that used to be perfectly acceptable pine forest and are now filled with tacky subdivisions.
Well then, no cumming for you then. 😛
After typing the word “cum” into google it appears that a vast majority believe it is a word. When does majority rule? (certianly not for elections) =P
Well, now, that is the million-dollar question, innit? Many people will argue that “ain’t” isn’t a (valid) word, in spite of the fact that it’s been used since the time of Shakespeare.
And, truth be told, I have fewer problems with “ain’t” than with “cum.” “Ain’t” serves a valid role, and fills a space where no other word is appropriate; there is no accepted contraction for “am not.” “Cum,” on the other hand, looks like something written by a schoolboy who hasn’t learned to spell yet.
After typing the word “cum” into google it appears that a vast majority believe it is a word. When does majority rule? (certianly not for elections) =P
Colloquialisms and jargon are seldom found in the dictionary, but generally convey their meaning to all who use them.
Take the verb “Windex” for example. While the dictionary probably does not have it as either noun or verb, and while we all know it started out as a noun, when I tell you I’m going to windex the glass case, you know what I mean.
And there are colloquialisms that have become words in Websters. Did I ever think I’d be alive in the day when “pleather” joined Websters? Of course we could debate OED vs Websters but that’s another post 😉 (and I note the spell-check here “tsk”s me for the use of “pleather”)
As a final note, cum is a word. It is just not the word you want to convey in your post.
cum (km, km)
prep.
Together with; plus. Often used in combination: our attic-cum-studio.
Careful knocking jargon – it’s how the language gets expanded 😉
Stop nown verbification! Don’t verbify your nouns. 🙂
Seriously, I understand what you’re saying, and yet…and yet… what’s wrong with “come”?
why – to differentiate between the noun and verb of course 😉 *grinning and ducking*
Colloquialisms and jargon are seldom found in the dictionary, but generally convey their meaning to all who use them.
Take the verb “Windex” for example. While the dictionary probably does not have it as either noun or verb, and while we all know it started out as a noun, when I tell you I’m going to windex the glass case, you know what I mean.
And there are colloquialisms that have become words in Websters. Did I ever think I’d be alive in the day when “pleather” joined Websters? Of course we could debate OED vs Websters but that’s another post 😉 (and I note the spell-check here “tsk”s me for the use of “pleather”)
As a final note, cum is a word. It is just not the word you want to convey in your post.
cum (km, km)
prep.
Together with; plus. Often used in combination: our attic-cum-studio.
Careful knocking jargon – it’s how the language gets expanded 😉
I’ve been there. It’s no threat to forbid anyone of ever going back. I’ve had enough of lame Atlanta suburbs that used to be perfectly acceptable pine forest and are now filled with tacky subdivisions.
When I was tracking down a Bach mass on iTunes music store, their censoring organs had rendered the 12th movement as “C*m Sancto Spiritu”.
BWAH!
God bless automatic filtering software, and God bless the ridiculous Puritanical prudery that finds it necessary. *snark*
When I was tracking down a Bach mass on iTunes music store, their censoring organs had rendered the 12th movement as “C*m Sancto Spiritu”.
signs in agreement
signs in agreement
I don’t like the word either, so I don’t use it.
But I don’t mind it (unlike, say, txtspk) because it, well, is a word – it’s not laziness, it’s being used for a very specific meaning.
Except in circumstances of ‘so, when r u cumming? is Sarah going to cum too?’ which makes me cringe in embarrassment for the poor sod who texted me.
I don’t like the word either, so I don’t use it.
But I don’t mind it (unlike, say, txtspk) because it, well, is a word – it’s not laziness, it’s being used for a very specific meaning.
Except in circumstances of ‘so, when r u cumming? is Sarah going to cum too?’ which makes me cringe in embarrassment for the poor sod who texted me.
I won’t weigh in on whethe rit “isn’t a word”, but I will make smirky faces to convey my feelings about seeing it typed where it doesn’t have to be. In Latin, fine; in English, I prefer “come” in my porn.
You may have what you like in yours, but no “cum” for me please.
British spelling also makes me feel all warm and squishy inside.
So it’d be safe to say, then, that British spellings of words add a colour to your porn-reading experience not unlike that of cum? (Sorry, forgive me, I had to.)
And interestingly, as I type this, I notice that the built-in real-time spellchecker used by Mac OS X flags “colour” as a mistake, but is fine with “cum.” Go figure.
I won’t weigh in on whethe rit “isn’t a word”, but I will make smirky faces to convey my feelings about seeing it typed where it doesn’t have to be. In Latin, fine; in English, I prefer “come” in my porn.
You may have what you like in yours, but no “cum” for me please.
British spelling also makes me feel all warm and squishy inside.
Heh. I’m a summa cum laude in English literature; I’ve read Beowulf in Anglo-Saxon, and therefore I ought to have earned the street cred by now to say hell yes, “cum” is word. Not only that, I put it in a bible poem, about the battle of Jericho, of all things. To wit: http://www.everypoet.org/pffa/showpost.php?p=254621&postcount=39
Ok, so I might’ve written it “come,” but the challenge that inspired the poem was “use only words of three letters or less.”
Daaaaaaaaaaamn.
*bows before*
😉 Heh. Now, flattery and obeisance doesn’t make me cum. But it doesn’t hurt, either.
*curtsies*
er….”flattery and obeisance don’t make me cum,” rather. But an editing function on hastily-posted lj comments just might!
That’s impressive. – ZM
Weird. cum works for me only because of the implied double meaning; but sus just seems a glaring misspelling.
Weird.
You prefer “suss”? Me too, actually, but OED has both, and I needed three letters. Actually, there’s apparently an interesting controversy about whether the two spelling reflect different shades of meaning (http://linguistlist.org/issues/4/4-351.html). “Sus” is older, and perhaps more appropriate here, given all that.
Interesting. I had not heard of the Suspicion Laws.
Given the recency of the law (1984), I suspect that the Suspicion Law abreviation to Suss Law was in direct reference to the former accepted meaning of suss, however it was originally spelled.
In a similar way, “jerry-rigged” (often phonetically corrupted as “jury-rigged”) was a redirected insult toward poor German construction during WWI, derived originally from the US slang insulting black construction.
As to the word itself, I was not raised in Great Britain, but I suspect suss was a slang term rarely if ever printed, similar to chuff.
OED has as its first written citation for sus/suss a 1936 novel, where it is spelled “sus” and used as a noun that refers to suspicion in a legal sense (the police arrest someone, and he asks what they’ve got him on. “Sus?”). By the 1950s, OED has it as an adjective and a verb, and as a verb “suss” appears to be the more usual spelling. Maybe because “suss” is more readily converted to the past tense?
Heh. Poor Franklin; starts a linguistic complaint about one piece of slang, ends up with an obscure etymological discussion of another one. Kisses to both of you!
Heh. I’m a summa cum laude in English literature; I’ve read Beowulf in Anglo-Saxon, and therefore I ought to have earned the street cred by now to say hell yes, “cum” is word. Not only that, I put it in a bible poem, about the battle of Jericho, of all things. To wit: http://www.everypoet.org/pffa/showpost.php?p=254621&postcount=39
Ok, so I might’ve written it “come,” but the challenge that inspired the poem was “use only words of three letters or less.”
Hmm… is “thpth!!!” a word?
Well, now, that is the million-dollar question, innit? Many people will argue that “ain’t” isn’t a (valid) word, in spite of the fact that it’s been used since the time of Shakespeare.
And, truth be told, I have fewer problems with “ain’t” than with “cum.” “Ain’t” serves a valid role, and fills a space where no other word is appropriate; there is no accepted contraction for “am not.” “Cum,” on the other hand, looks like something written by a schoolboy who hasn’t learned to spell yet.
Stop nown verbification! Don’t verbify your nouns. 🙂
Seriously, I understand what you’re saying, and yet…and yet… what’s wrong with “come”?
BWAH!
God bless automatic filtering software, and God bless the ridiculous Puritanical prudery that finds it necessary. *snark*
So it’d be safe to say, then, that British spellings of words add a colour to your porn-reading experience not unlike that of cum? (Sorry, forgive me, I had to.)
And interestingly, as I type this, I notice that the built-in real-time spellchecker used by Mac OS X flags “colour” as a mistake, but is fine with “cum.” Go figure.
Daaaaaaaaaaamn.
*bows before*
You know, I’ve always wanted to ask the people who write something like “Oh, god, I’m cumming!”–how would you write a character describing the act of orgasm in the past tense? If you say “yesterday I came,” that would imply strongly that the proper use would be “and tomorrow I may come again.”
It’s an onomatopoeic word representing the concept of a raspberry (or bronx cheer), wouldn’t you say?
😉 Heh. Now, flattery and obeisance doesn’t make me cum. But it doesn’t hurt, either.
*curtsies*
er….”flattery and obeisance don’t make me cum,” rather. But an editing function on hastily-posted lj comments just might!
why – to differentiate between the noun and verb of course 😉 *grinning and ducking*
That’s impressive. – ZM
Weird. cum works for me only because of the implied double meaning; but sus just seems a glaring misspelling.
Weird.
I wholeheartedly agree
It is not a proper word; Cum is, rather, a phonetic corruption. Why it was so corrupted, who can tell. Those that initiate such corruption are rarely published in the OED.
Then again, perhaps it was corrupted from come to give it some baser associations. Gum, for example, is likewise gooey and sticky; rum invokes moments of drunkeness where one often finds oneself coming.
John Lennon changed the name of the Silver Beetles, so he claimed, because The Beatles gives the name a conflicting association with beauty, if only subtly.
Some radical feminists (or should it be “sum?”) object to history, because it can be misconstrued as “his-story.” They prefer herstory, which makes no sense to me. When I heard about that, I would sometimes refer to the feminist-perspective history as hystery.
Actual entomologies
Androgen — a male hormone, derived from the Greek “to make a man;”
Estrogen — a female hormone, derived from the Greek “to make a frenzy;” closely related to “hysteria.”
I wholeheartedly agree
It is not a proper word; Cum is, rather, a phonetic corruption. Why it was so corrupted, who can tell. Those that initiate such corruption are rarely published in the OED.
Then again, perhaps it was corrupted from come to give it some baser associations. Gum, for example, is likewise gooey and sticky; rum invokes moments of drunkeness where one often finds oneself coming.
John Lennon changed the name of the Silver Beetles, so he claimed, because The Beatles gives the name a conflicting association with beauty, if only subtly.
Some radical feminists (or should it be “sum?”) object to history, because it can be misconstrued as “his-story.” They prefer herstory, which makes no sense to me. When I heard about that, I would sometimes refer to the feminist-perspective history as hystery.
Actual entomologies
Androgen — a male hormone, derived from the Greek “to make a man;”
Estrogen — a female hormone, derived from the Greek “to make a frenzy;” closely related to “hysteria.”
You prefer “suss”? Me too, actually, but OED has both, and I needed three letters. Actually, there’s apparently an interesting controversy about whether the two spelling reflect different shades of meaning (http://linguistlist.org/issues/4/4-351.html). “Sus” is older, and perhaps more appropriate here, given all that.
Interesting. I had not heard of the Suspicion Laws.
Given the recency of the law (1984), I suspect that the Suspicion Law abreviation to Suss Law was in direct reference to the former accepted meaning of suss, however it was originally spelled.
In a similar way, “jerry-rigged” (often phonetically corrupted as “jury-rigged”) was a redirected insult toward poor German construction during WWI, derived originally from the US slang insulting black construction.
As to the word itself, I was not raised in Great Britain, but I suspect suss was a slang term rarely if ever printed, similar to chuff.
OED has as its first written citation for sus/suss a 1936 novel, where it is spelled “sus” and used as a noun that refers to suspicion in a legal sense (the police arrest someone, and he asks what they’ve got him on. “Sus?”). By the 1950s, OED has it as an adjective and a verb, and as a verb “suss” appears to be the more usual spelling. Maybe because “suss” is more readily converted to the past tense?
Heh. Poor Franklin; starts a linguistic complaint about one piece of slang, ends up with an obscure etymological discussion of another one. Kisses to both of you!
Wow. I’m damned flattered. Thanks.
Wow. I’m damned flattered. Thanks.
Ok, not work safe.
Ok, not work safe.