It's wonderful that the British term "shag" has finally found a place in the American vernacular. It's not as euphamistic as "sleep with," as potentially hyperbolic as "make love," or as crass as "f***." Hopefully the very useful word "snog" will not be far behind.
Posted by Marie Gryphon on February 17, 2003Eh, I've never liked "snog" and I never will. [Cue Shatner impression] I can never forgive it... for the death of my boy. [/shatner] Seriously, though, "snog" sounds awful, like some awful green phleghmatic ball of goo. I am a longtime fan of "shag" though, for the reasons you mention. Aside from being euphemistic, "sleep with" is just flat out inaccurate... I mean, it sounds strange if you say that, you know, you met your s/o on your lunch break and slept together, unless you're a big fan of the midday nap. Also, sometimes you do just want to indicate that you and another person slumbered in close proximity to one another without having to explain. And "fucking" just doesn't sound that pleasant... probably because of the general slang associations-- e.g. "That's fucked up" or "they fucked me over." "Shagging" actually sounds like it might be, you know, fun or something.
Posted by: julian on February 18, 2003 11:53 PMJ-
You're going to get me Net Nannied out of public libraries everywhere. :) Did I mention I couldn't access your site or Gene's from the child-proofed computers in my hotel in Austin?
Onomatopoeticly, I guess I'd have to agree about "snog." Starting with the same letters as "snout" and then rhyming with "hog" and "bog" can't be good.
What I like about the word is that - as I understand it - it means a bit more than just "kiss," but still significantly less than sex. The American phrase "make out," in addition to being dated and euphamistic, is less precise. It covers both what Brits refer to as a snog and what they call a pull. If a friend tells me they had a nice snog with someone, well, I know exactly what they mean.
Posted by: Marie on February 19, 2003 10:58 AMWe should all give thanks to Austin Powers aka Mike Myers for that
Posted by: Lawrence on February 19, 2003 1:22 PMBack in the day, we used the word "scoop" to mean "snog." As in "What happened after the movie? Did you go back to her place? Did you scoop? Were her parents home?" Or "Did you hear that Brian and Kelly were scooping all weekend at the Church lock-in?"
Man, I never got so much play as could be had at church-sponsored outings. But that's a very different story...
I have no idea where "scoop" came from. I have never heard it used by anyone from outside northern South Carolina, except in the Hendersonville/Asheville part of NC. But I like it way better than "snog." Bring back the "scoop!"
Posted by: Lane on February 27, 2003 6:22 PM