[extropy-chat] ai reading the internet again

[BillK]

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 22:19:30 -0800, spike wrote:
> Curious is the term suck.  My office mate is the
> goalie for the Stanford hockey team.  At the last game
> his cheering section unfurled a banner which read:
> Don't Suck, Straigis!
> 
> At one time, the term suck meant to cause stimulation
> of the genitals through oral manipulation, (which is
> a good thing in most people's view) but now it means
> of low quality or to perform poorly, which is bad.  So
> we must conclude the term has pejorated.  Yet at one
> time the original usage was considered vulgar, whereas
> it has now passed into common speech, which would be
> an example of amelioration.  Simultaneous amelioration
> and pejoration?
> 
> How confused will be an emergent AI, should it attempt
> to grok humans with our common use of the term suck.
> 

According to the dictionary, you've been mixing with vulgar people again. 
Your mother warned you about bad company!  ;)

Suck is a word that originates from the sound that you make when you
do it. A similar sounding word is found in many languages.

>From the Online Etymological Dictionary:
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.
---------------------------

The 'contemptible' meaning probably comes from male teen slang. Like
they insult each other by using parts of female anatomy or female
characteristics as epithets. A similar insult would be to accuse
another male of being the type of person who performs fellatio.


>From Dictionary.com:
v. sucked, suck·ing, sucks
v. tr.
   1. To draw (liquid) into the mouth by movements of the tongue and
lips that create suction.
   2.
         1. To draw in by establishing a partial vacuum: a cleaning
device that sucks up dirt.
         2. To draw in by or as if by a current in a fluid.
         3. To draw or pull as if by suction: teenagers who are sucked
into a life of crime.
   3. To draw nourishment through or from: suck a baby bottle.
   4. To hold, moisten, or maneuver (a sweet, for example) in the mouth.
   5. Vulgar Slang. To perform fellatio on.

v. intr.
   1. To draw something in by or as if by suction: felt the drain
starting to suck.
   2. To draw nourishment; suckle.
   3. To make a sound caused by suction.
   4. Vulgar Slang. To be disgustingly disagreeable or offensive.



BillK