All Hallows Eve! What's it going to be this year? - Page 2

bluecuracao · 10-11-2007, 06:15 PM

We're going to a party the Saturday before (still trying to think of good costumes), and on the night of...we might go to the Khyber to see a friend's band play.

Sundae · 10-12-2007, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Do they celebrate it differently in the UK or Down Under?

I refer you to this thread.
DuckNuts:

Quote:

The last few years certain suburbs in the major cities have started their own little halloween/trick or treat thingie. But other than that we dont, its just another nite. Occasionally, if someone is having a birthday that weekend, it will be turned into a Halloween party.

JayMcGee:

Quote:

Rather, it has become not just an occasion when pre-teens can bang upon your door and demand 'trick or treat' without the slightest comprhension of the culture behind that phrase, but also a 'marketing opportunity' for our supermarkets to offload several tons of rather tacky 'hallowe'en party essentials', which consist in the most part of rubberised face-masks that approximate a childs perception of a vampire, and possibly even (in the de- luxe versions) a candle to put inside the (optional extra) turnip head.

And a post from me with some photos of tacky halloween party essentials.

In short, yes it is different. For us it's a very minor occurrence, and only children dress up. They also dress in spooky costumes, not fancy dress. They do Trick or Treat, but for many years I haven't had a single child come to my door - it's less common here. Some pubs have Halloween parties, but that's really just to boost the takings. We're more geared to Bonfire (Guy Fawkes) Night on 5 November.

monster · 10-12-2007, 09:06 PM

fancy dress (UK) = costume (US)

(for SG, related but from a different thread swimming costume = swimsuit over here. learned that one the hard way!)

Sundae · 10-13-2007, 05:44 AM

Aha! Unwitting making the merkins think I am doing Water Workout dressed as a comedy octopus or something. Thanks for the heads up!

monster · 10-13-2007, 10:30 AM

I think most on here have a grip on the Brit thing, but, you know, for future reference and all......

actually, I'm quite enjoying the idea of you doing water work out dressed as an octopus.....

zippyt · 10-13-2007, 10:46 AM

Ugh SG , read about a MERKIN

That would make for some INTERESTING water aerobics !!!!

Sundae · 10-13-2007, 11:51 AM

S'okay, I know what a merkin is. That's why it's funny

(Merkin being a pubic wig as well as a contraction of the word American, in case you don't want to follow the link)

DanaC · 10-13-2007, 01:56 PM

Quote:

In short, yes it is different. For us it's a very minor occurrence, and only children dress up.

And students. Most student unions and a lot of individual faculties organise a halloween piss up with fancy dress themes. But then...students have a tendency to grab any opportunity to trail about a city on a pub crawl dressed bizarrely.

TheMercenary · 10-14-2007, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zippyt

Ugh SG , read about a MERKIN

That would make for some INTERESTING water aerobics !!!!

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_232.html

TheMercenary · 10-14-2007, 11:47 AM

My Fellow Merkin's

An Internet bad joke

The word merkin is one of the perpetual bad puns of the Internet. I first came across it in the Usenet newsgroup alt.fan.pratchett (a group devoted to the works of the British fantasy writer Terry Pratchett, he of the Discworld fantasies) and it puzzled me. From context, it seemed to be used as a synonym for inhabitant of the United States of America but it only slowly dawned on me that those who used it were guying a supposed half-swallowed pronunciation of “American” by some Americans, particularly the late Lyndon Johnson.

Then I looked it up and the full force of the pun hit me. The word actually has a number of senses, all of them sexually-related and, therefore, highly risible to persons of a certain cast of mind. One of the current standard ones is pubic wig (such wigs are used, apparently, in the theatrical and film worlds as modesty devices in nude scenes). It can also be a contrivance used by male cross-dressers to imitate the female genitals. Another sense which is even lower slang and which came into the language last century is, as Eric Partridge delicately puts it in A Dictionary of Historical Slang, “an artificial vagina for lonely men”.

The OED says that its first use in English, in the sixteenth century, was as a term for the female genitals, but then its sense transferred to the pubic hair, and from there to artificial pubic hair and then much later to an artificial vagina. Such is the shifting and inconsistent nature of vocabulary, at least when the word concerns intimate matters not often spoken of in public nor written down.

Various people on the alt.usage.english newsgroup (Mark Israel, Paul Andresen, Mark Brader) have recently been discussing Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 film Dr Strangelove, which named the character of the President, one of the parts played by Peter Sellers, as “Merkin Muffley”. This gets two risqué usages past the censor at once, since “muff” is another slang term for the female genitals (as in muff-diving for cunnilingus). This name was presumably the work of Kubrick or his scriptwriters, since the book on which the film was based (Red Alert by Peter George, pseudonym of the late Peter Bryant), does not name the presidential character.

No doubt you will understand now why the use of Merkin in Usenet posts is usually restricted to non-Americans ...

http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/merkin.htm

Drax · 10-14-2007, 06:17 PM

If you choose to go out on the night of October 31, look to the sky. If you see a group of stars in the following formation...RUN!

bluecuracao · 10-14-2007, 06:25 PM

Good thing I can't see the stars from here...

Drax · 10-14-2007, 06:48 PM

Just because you can't see them doesn't mean he isn't coming.

bluecuracao · 10-14-2007, 07:07 PM

I guess I'll have to be surprised then.

um...

Who should I be looking out for, just in case? Will he be getting his own hotel, or should I make up the guest bedroom??

Drax · 10-14-2007, 08:11 PM

Well, I'll give you a hint. He wears grey cover-alls, a pale-white mask, and black combat boots. He's survived over 20 gun shot wounds, as well as being burned alive. His favorite weapon is a really big kitchen knife. He is pure evil (though not by choice).

Still stumped? Just ask for a picture, and ye shall receive.

10-12-2007, 09:06 PM	#18
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	fancy dress (UK) = costume (US) (for SG, related but from a different thread swimming costume = swimsuit over here. learned that one the hard way!) __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

10-13-2007, 05:44 AM	#19
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	Aha! Unwitting making the merkins think I am doing Water Workout dressed as a comedy octopus or something. Thanks for the heads up! __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

10-13-2007, 10:30 AM	#20
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	I think most on here have a grip on the Brit thing, but, you know, for future reference and all...... actually, I'm quite enjoying the idea of you doing water work out dressed as an octopus..... __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

10-13-2007, 10:46 AM	#21
zippyt LONG LIVE KING ZIPPY! per Feetz Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Arkansas Posts: 7,661	Ugh SG , read about a MERKIN That would make for some INTERESTING water aerobics !!!! __________________ "Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. " Brother Dave Gardner

10-13-2007, 11:51 AM	#22
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	S'okay, I know what a merkin is. That's why it's funny (Merkin being a pubic wig as well as a contraction of the word American, in case you don't want to follow the link) __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac Last edited by Sundae; 10-13-2007 at 12:05 PM.

10-11-2007, 06:15 PM	#16
bluecuracao in a mood, not cupcake Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 3,034	We're going to a party the Saturday before (still trying to think of good costumes), and on the night of...we might go to the Khyber to see a friend's band play.

10-14-2007, 11:47 AM	#25
TheMercenary “Hypocrisy: prejudice with a halo” Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Savannah, Georgia Posts: 21,393	My Fellow Merkin's An Internet bad joke The word merkin is one of the perpetual bad puns of the Internet. I first came across it in the Usenet newsgroup alt.fan.pratchett (a group devoted to the works of the British fantasy writer Terry Pratchett, he of the Discworld fantasies) and it puzzled me. From context, it seemed to be used as a synonym for inhabitant of the United States of America but it only slowly dawned on me that those who used it were guying a supposed half-swallowed pronunciation of “American” by some Americans, particularly the late Lyndon Johnson. Then I looked it up and the full force of the pun hit me. The word actually has a number of senses, all of them sexually-related and, therefore, highly risible to persons of a certain cast of mind. One of the current standard ones is pubic wig (such wigs are used, apparently, in the theatrical and film worlds as modesty devices in nude scenes). It can also be a contrivance used by male cross-dressers to imitate the female genitals. Another sense which is even lower slang and which came into the language last century is, as Eric Partridge delicately puts it in A Dictionary of Historical Slang, “an artificial vagina for lonely men”. The OED says that its first use in English, in the sixteenth century, was as a term for the female genitals, but then its sense transferred to the pubic hair, and from there to artificial pubic hair and then much later to an artificial vagina. Such is the shifting and inconsistent nature of vocabulary, at least when the word concerns intimate matters not often spoken of in public nor written down. Various people on the alt.usage.english newsgroup (Mark Israel, Paul Andresen, Mark Brader) have recently been discussing Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 film Dr Strangelove, which named the character of the President, one of the parts played by Peter Sellers, as “Merkin Muffley”. This gets two risqué usages past the censor at once, since “muff” is another slang term for the female genitals (as in muff-diving for cunnilingus). This name was presumably the work of Kubrick or his scriptwriters, since the book on which the film was based (Red Alert by Peter George, pseudonym of the late Peter Bryant), does not name the presidential character. No doubt you will understand now why the use of Merkin in Usenet posts is usually restricted to non-Americans ... http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/merkin.htm __________________ Anyone but the this most fuked up President in History in 2012!

10-14-2007, 06:17 PM	#26
Drax Banned Join Date: May 2007 Location: Gallman, MS, USA Posts: 1,933	If you choose to go out on the night of October 31, look to the sky. If you see a group of stars in the following formation...RUN! Attached Images

10-14-2007, 06:25 PM	#27
bluecuracao in a mood, not cupcake Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 3,034	Good thing I can't see the stars from here...

10-14-2007, 06:48 PM	#28
Drax Banned Join Date: May 2007 Location: Gallman, MS, USA Posts: 1,933	Just because you can't see them doesn't mean he isn't coming.

10-14-2007, 07:07 PM	#29
bluecuracao in a mood, not cupcake Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 3,034	I guess I'll have to be surprised then. um... Who should I be looking out for, just in case? Will he be getting his own hotel, or should I make up the guest bedroom??

10-14-2007, 08:11 PM	#30
Drax Banned Join Date: May 2007 Location: Gallman, MS, USA Posts: 1,933	Well, I'll give you a hint. He wears grey cover-alls, a pale-white mask, and black combat boots. He's survived over 20 gun shot wounds, as well as being burned alive. His favorite weapon is a really big kitchen knife. He is pure evil (though not by choice). Still stumped? Just ask for a picture, and ye shall receive.

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