Fraternities - WTF?!

[Bronzeage]

The frat had been disbanded and kicked out by the school for rotten behavior.

double secret probation?

 

[bilby]

Apparently, the word "shag" has a similar story. Not that big a deal here, but there was quite a ruckus in the UK when the Austin Powers movie, "The Spy Who Shagged Me" came out there.

The word "shag" has never had anywhere close to the impact of "cunt" in the UK. And any ruckus in the UK over "The Spy Who Shagged Me" would have come from the tiny but very vocal NVLA/Mediawatch-UK types*; It would certainly not have been a big deal for the vast majority of Britons.






* I recall seeing Mary Whitehouse being interviewed, and the reporter asked her what she thought of lesbianism. She said "Well, it leaves a nasty taste in the mouth", and couldn't understand why he almost died trying not to laugh...

I guess it was more offensive to the British upper crust, but not so much for the commoners:

"The Spy Who (slang here) Me'

When Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me hit big screens in London on Friday, the word "shag" _ British slang for "to copulate" _ got the full-Monty-on-the-marquee treatment.

Film distributor New Line Cinema refused to change the title, though some Brits may blush when they see it. (The S-word raised a miniruckus among some Brits in America after the movie's U.S. premiere.) New Line is keeping mum on its decision in Britain. But when Austin Powers plays elsewhere, the title will have to behaaave, baby.

Despite its affront to stiff-upper-lipped Brits, the "shagged" title fits the hip, if slightly cockeyed story line of the film _ a 1960s-era superspy in pursuit of his purloined libido; it also fits the movie's essence of "cool Britannia." The Spy Who Engaged in Furtive Assignations With Me just doesn't cut it.

And "shag" _ taboo in polite British society _ has seeped into everyday conversations in pubs, and even crept into sitcoms and respected newspapers.

I am highly dubious that the Tampa Times hack who wrote that understands British slang; "Shag" is considered very mild language in pubs, and (apart from the abovementioned Mrs Whitehouse) is not going to raise many eyebrows in a sitcom or newspaper (do people even still read newspapers?).

This strikes me as a lazy journo trope of "make shit up, nobody will know as long as you attribute it to a distant land".

Before leaving the UK for Australia, I read any number of weird tales about people and events 'down under'. When I got here, I saw the same stories in the local press - but attributed to "a man in England", rather than "a man in Australia".

My assumption is that journos make up shit that they think will attract attention, ascribe it to foreigners, and fuck off down the pub. It's got to be easier than research or reportage.

 

[thebeave]

Apparently, the word "shag" has a similar story. Not that big a deal here, but there was quite a ruckus in the UK when the Austin Powers movie, "The Spy Who Shagged Me" came out there.

The word "shag" has never had anywhere close to the impact of "cunt" in the UK. And any ruckus in the UK over "The Spy Who Shagged Me" would have come from the tiny but very vocal NVLA/Mediawatch-UK types*; It would certainly not have been a big deal for the vast majority of Britons.






* I recall seeing Mary Whitehouse being interviewed, and the reporter asked her what she thought of lesbianism. She said "Well, it leaves a nasty taste in the mouth", and couldn't understand why he almost died trying not to laugh...

I guess it was more offensive to the British upper crust, but not so much for the commoners:

"The Spy Who (slang here) Me'

When Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me hit big screens in London on Friday, the word "shag" _ British slang for "to copulate" _ got the full-Monty-on-the-marquee treatment.

Film distributor New Line Cinema refused to change the title, though some Brits may blush when they see it. (The S-word raised a miniruckus among some Brits in America after the movie's U.S. premiere.) New Line is keeping mum on its decision in Britain. But when Austin Powers plays elsewhere, the title will have to behaaave, baby.

Despite its affront to stiff-upper-lipped Brits, the "shagged" title fits the hip, if slightly cockeyed story line of the film _ a 1960s-era superspy in pursuit of his purloined libido; it also fits the movie's essence of "cool Britannia." The Spy Who Engaged in Furtive Assignations With Me just doesn't cut it.

And "shag" _ taboo in polite British society _ has seeped into everyday conversations in pubs, and even crept into sitcoms and respected newspapers.

I am highly dubious that the Tampa Times hack who wrote that understands British slang; "Shag" is considered very mild language in pubs, and (apart from the abovementioned Mrs Whitehouse) is not going to raise many eyebrows in a sitcom or newspaper (do people even still read newspapers?).

This strikes me as a lazy journo trope of "make shit up, nobody will know as long as you attribute it to a distant land".

Before leaving the UK for Australia, I read any number of weird tales about people and events 'down under'. When I got here, I saw the same stories in the local press - but attributed to "a man in England", rather than "a man in Australia".

My assumption is that journos make up shit that they think will attract attention, ascribe it to foreigners, and fuck off down the pub. It's got to be easier than research or reportage.

Well, keep in mind that Tampa Times article is 27 years old, and my statement about the word "shag" was in reference to its usage back in 1999 at the film's release, not today. The impact of the word has softened since then:

Definition of shag in British English

3.
an act of sexual intercourse

▶ USAGE Though still likely to cause offence to more conservative people, this word has lost a lot of its shock value. It seems to have a jocular, relaxed connotation, which most of the other words in this field do not. No doubt its acceptability has been accelerated by its use in the title of an Austin Powers film of 1999. Interestingly, though advertisements for the film caused a large number of complaints to the British Advertising Standards Authority, they were not upheld

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Apparently, the word "shag" has a similar story. Not that big a deal here, but there was quite a ruckus in the UK when the Austin Powers movie, "The Spy Who Shagged Me" came out there.

The word "shag" has never had anywhere close to the impact of "cunt" in the UK. And any ruckus in the UK over "The Spy Who Shagged Me" would have come from the tiny but very vocal NVLA/Mediawatch-UK types*; It would certainly not have been a big deal for the vast majority of Britons.






* I recall seeing Mary Whitehouse being interviewed, and the reporter asked her what she thought of lesbianism. She said "Well, it leaves a nasty taste in the mouth", and couldn't understand why he almost died trying not to laugh...

I guess it was more offensive to the British upper crust, but not so much for the commoners:

"The Spy Who (slang here) Me'

When Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me hit big screens in London on Friday, the word "shag" _ British slang for "to copulate" _ got the full-Monty-on-the-marquee treatment.

Film distributor New Line Cinema refused to change the title, though some Brits may blush when they see it. (The S-word raised a miniruckus among some Brits in America after the movie's U.S. premiere.) New Line is keeping mum on its decision in Britain. But when Austin Powers plays elsewhere, the title will have to behaaave, baby.

Despite its affront to stiff-upper-lipped Brits, the "shagged" title fits the hip, if slightly cockeyed story line of the film _ a 1960s-era superspy in pursuit of his purloined libido; it also fits the movie's essence of "cool Britannia." The Spy Who Engaged in Furtive Assignations With Me just doesn't cut it.

And "shag" _ taboo in polite British society _ has seeped into everyday conversations in pubs, and even crept into sitcoms and respected newspapers.

I am highly dubious that the Tampa Times hack who wrote that understands British slang; "Shag" is considered very mild language in pubs, and (apart from the abovementioned Mrs Whitehouse) is not going to raise many eyebrows in a sitcom or newspaper (do people even still read newspapers?).

Oh feck off! Americans are the dog's bollocks when it comes to understanding things in cultures they have no understanding of.

 

[bilby]

Well, keep in mind that Tampa Times article is 27 years old, and my statement about the word "shag" was in reference to its usage back in 1999 at the film's release, not today. The impact of the word has softened since then:

Well, keep in mind that I left the UK 32 years ago at he age of 24, so my assessment pre-dates the film (and that the impact of the word may well have softened since then).

Now, if the title had been "The Spy Who Fucked Me", the Tampa Times would have been about right, and even today there would be much pearl clutching and likely ban on the uncensored title. But "shagged"? Nah.

Even BASA didn't uphold the complaints they got, ruling that the trailer was "unlikely to cause widespread offence" (and back in the '90s they tended to err on the side of prudish). I am curious about how many complaints constitute "a large number"; And as to whether those complaints focused on the word "shagged", or on other things in the trailer - Collins doesn't say, but Google says:

The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 310 complaints regarding the advertising campaign (including posters and promos) for the comedy movie Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. [1, 2]

Complaint Details

• • The Issue: Most of the complaints centered on the use of the word "shag" in the film's title and promotional materials, which some members of the public considered offensive or inappropriate slang for sexual intercourse.
  • The Outcome: The Advertising Standards Authority ultimately took no formal adverse action and did not uphold the complaints, ruling that the advertising would not cause widespread offense. At the time, it drew the second-highest number of complaints for a poster/ad campaign in the UK for that annual reporting period. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Three hundred and ten complaints. From a viewing public in the tens of millions. It wasn't even the highest number of complaints that year.

 

[unapologetic]

I suspect college kids are a tad dumber than the average bear.

Frat bros are dumber than the average college kid.

 

[DBT]

Yet there they are, Lord help us, in college training to be the new generation of leaders in industry, finance and management.