Yes, "schlong" means "penis", but is also means "rubber hose". Getting beaten by a rubber hose has long been a severe way of beating somebody. Getting "schlonged" has long meant getting a severe beating with absolutely no sexual connotation. Sure, you may never heard of this slang, because it's very regional, but it does exist. Fact checkers have gone back and found many uses of this word to mean just that [1] [2] [3] [4] [5], meaning "severe beating" in a non-sexual sense.
We regularly use words like hosed, shafted, stiffed, chapped, and boned to mean something similar. Sure, some of these derive from a base word for "penis", but are commonly used these days without any sexual or derogatory connotation. The only different about "schlonged" is that most Americans were unfamiliar with the idiom. Had Trump said "shafted" instead, this controversy would not have erupted.
We regularly use words like hosed, shafted, stiffed, chapped, and boned to mean something similar. Sure, some of these derive from a base word for "penis", but are commonly used these days without any sexual or derogatory connotation. The only different about "schlonged" is that most Americans were unfamiliar with the idiom. Had Trump said "shafted" instead, this controversy would not have erupted.
But those who hate Trump, and who have only known "schlong" to mean something dirty and derogatory, are unwilling to let go of their hate. They are unwilling to believe that Trump's use of the word in relationship to Hillary is anything but sexist. No amount of citing people from that region saying "I use the word without particular sexual connotation" will ever convince them otherwise. They've never been to that region, never used "schlonged", but now they are experts on exactly what connotations that word has.
And that's why his populist demagoguery is winning. In recent years, every worker in America has been subjected to repeated rounds of sensitivity and political-correctness training, making them feel they are already guilty of racism and sexism before anything has occurred. They watch as either they, or their friends, get in trouble for transgressions just like this, innocent, yet unable to defend themselves. And women and non-whites are just as pissed off.
It's like my friend who calls himself a "cheap Chinaman", because he is Chinese and cheap, just like all his Chinese friends and neighbors. Off to HR he goes for re-education.
Or it's like another co-worker, who said "fair people should only breed with their own kind", to a black co-worker. She was talking about the Renaissance Fair, whose members ("fair people") are hopelessly nerdy and out-of-touch like herself. But that doesn't matter, of to HR she goes for re-education!
Or, it's like another friend, who grew up on an Indian reservation. His first schoolyard fight was because a kid called him "white", which was the worst possible insult. When his parents sent him up to his room without dinner as punishment, he overheard is parents say "should we tell him?", because in fact his mother was indeed mostly white. His identity is American Indian (of the Lumbee tribe), but he looks white enough, so when he challenges his new hire indoctrination about overcoming his white privilege, off to HR for re-education he goes!
None of these three examples are white-males. Everyone feels stifled by this political correctness overreach. When they see Trump confront his bullies boldly, not backing down, he becomes a hero.
Yes, in the end, Trump is a tad racist, and his populist demagoguery borders on fascism. But if he wins, it's not the racism of white-males that will have made it so. It will be the patently unfair hate and bigotry of the left-wing that will have made it so.
Update: Words sounding like "schlang" mean "hose" in a wide variety of European languages, such as шланг (shlang) in Russian, slang in Swedish and Dutch, slange in Danish, შლანგი (shlangi) in Georgian. European "ethnic" areas, like where Trump grew up, use the word to mean "hose". I'm mostly ethnically German. As far back as I can remember, "schlong" has always meant penis in the same way that "hose" has meant penis.
Update: The WaPo reference above is a perfect example of the left-wing bias the media aimed at Trump. It cites a previous non-sexual example of the term "schlonged", and then insists without citing any evidence that the term must have a sexual meaning.
Update: Suppressing regional and ethnic idioms because you've never heard of them is, of course, a form of bigotry and racism.
6 comments:
I don't like Trump but I wouldn't describe him as "a tad racist" or "border[ing] on fascism". I think he's racist and fascist. But this whole shlong thing is silly. It's the media and our corporate "government" working to blackball someone that hasn't been already bought. That said, use of the word "schlong" to mean "garden hose" and "schlonged" to mean "severe beating" is probably not wise since a large percentage of the American population won't get that meaning without explaining it. I can't find an online dictionary that defines "schlong" to mean garden hose or "schlonged" to mean severe beating, but that doesn't mean it's not a regional slang. Using regional slang in a national election is probably a silly idea since most people will not understand what you're saying, but making a big deal out of it is just plain stupid.
From what I've briefly researched this morning, Shlong probably came from the German for snake: Schlange.
There is much cuckoo-talk about the etymology of "schlong" as applied by Trump to Hillary. The smart people are smugly certain that they know that it is a Yiddish vulgarity for "penis." They claim that the term was in common usage on the lower east side. Hold on, I'm not so sure about that. The best thing on the lower east side was and still is a pastrami on rye -- hand cut by Hispanics at Katz's Delicatessen. In my limited knowledge, I believe that schlong was a Yiddish-sounding neologism invented by Philip Roth in Portnoy's Complaint (1969.) As an uncomfortable Jew, Portnoy had a desire to insert his schlong into one of the apertures of a beautiful"shiksa" that he encountered on the sidewalks of the fashionable east side. You have the privilege of enlightening me if you think I am incorrect in the above.#schlong-a-roony
Ok, I'm going to disagree with this window dressing of Trump and basically but loggerheads with the OP. The OP obviously likes Trump, and thinks that he is being negatively covered in the media. Trump knows exactly what he is doing, he is inflaming being deliberately crude to get media attention.
So I ask this, whom here regularly comments on colleagues of the opposite sex's bathroom breaks? http://time.com/4158303/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-disgusting-schlonged/ "“I know where she went — it’s disgusting,". Or when he said that a Female reporter was "bleeding from wherever".
So please treat your Sysadmin/security (why the hell is this topic here) Audience with respect. We are intelligent people and your vain attempt to redefine words, in his defense is a joke. I have a daughter and I don't want her to be afraid to ask important questions of her leaders for fear that they may retort "it's her time of the month!". That's Trump saying "I'm not smart enough to tackle her question directly, so I will turn her sex into a joke". Trump's Jerry Springer style antics don't belong in this forum, we deal with issues and facts not insults and attention seeking behaviour.
Words have multiple meanings. People use words for their primary meanings *as well as* their secondary meanings and connotations. Just like music or poetry, ordinary use of language employs these overtones and undertones.
When I say Trump is a jerk I don't mean he's a piece of dried beef. I mean primarily that he's a boor with notes of sexism.
I'm not giving Trump the benefit of the doubt here. He knows full well how the vast majority of people interpret the word "schlong" and it has nothing to do with garden hoses.
Your attempt at literalism is absurd. Stick to the computer security beat.
I'm not from anywhere remotely near NY and have NO familiarity with Yiddish or German, etc, etc. And I am certainly NO fan of Trump. And I agree with Colin on his points - But in the 70's, we'd actually say, "He/She/They got the schlong" to refer to being beaten or cheated, in a contest. i.e., "the Broncos sure got the schlong last night".
I don't know if I would discount this whole class of words (screwed, fucked, sucked, boned, shafted, etc) as "nonsexual" - but certainly not "sexist" (e.g., "Hillary sucks" or "Trump sucks" - would we still have the same stupid conversation?).
In the end, it all seems, well... Trumped up.
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