Hi, sorry if this has been asked before, can anyone explain the term "Cheese it!" as used by Bender when legging it (e.g. from the Dean's office in Mars University after fatbot eats the Dean's ship)- it's not used in the UK what about in the US of A? Also, can anyone explain the Greek chapter house business as per Mars University and Animal House - I've often wondered what that is all about?
Thanks
Paul
On Thu, 13 Feb 2003 06:58:08 -0000, "Paul Matthews"
Are you saying they don't have frats in the UK?
Sorry - even though I went to college and went to many a frat party, I can't explain them.
On Thu, 13 Feb 2003 06:58:08 -0000, "Paul Matthews" spewed forth:
Well, it means "let's get the hell out of here", but I have no idea what the origin is. I know it popped up in a couple of MST3K episodes.."cheese it, it's the heat !"
Fraternities. Basically a place where grown men can get drunk and paddle each other's naked asses and obsess over football and other homoerotics.
Rev. Bleech_ wrote in message news:...
Correct. And it's usually only used when you're about to be busted by an authority figure - usually the police. "Cheese it! The cops!" I believe the phrase first surfaced back in the 1920's or 1930's and - as I heard tell - it may have once been "Jesus!" You know, when surprised/scared/etc. I get this info from my grandfather who, admittedly, may not have a clue. But it makes an interesting story as to the origin.
Amazingly, OED traces it back to 1812:
cheese cheese, v.2 slang (orig. Thieves'). To stop, give up, leave off.
cheese it! cheese it! = have done! run away!
* 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Cheese it, the same as Stow it.
* 1866 Even. Standard 27 July, As soon as he went up the prisoner Blagin
said, `Cheese it (run away), here's the bobby coming'.
* 1873 Slang Dict., Cheese or Cheese it (evidently a corruption of
cease) leave off, or have done: `Cheese your barrikin', hold your noise.
Term very common.
* 1880 Times, for the year 1980 4/4 He told the station master at the
balloon dep�.t to cheese it, but thought better of it afterwards;
* 1882 J. Hawthorne Fort. Fool i. xxxiii, `Cheese it, mates! 'ere comes
the bobbies!'
* 1910 Chesterton Alarms & Discursions 58 Their citizens..will often say
`Cheese it!'
* 1923 Wodehouse Inimit. Jeeves i. 9 He had been clearing away the
breakfast things, but at the sound of the young master's voice cheesed
it courteously.
* 1938 Wodehouse Code of Woosters xii. 261, I pulled myself together and
cheesed the bird imitation.<snip>
The closest we have in the UK is to be cheesed off... i.e. "I'm really cheesed off" - disgruntled / fed up / angry etc.
Paul
You know where the OED comes from, right? :)
"Matthew Miller" wrote in message news:[email]...
Hey, that's my city of birth you're talkin' about! In fact the OUP is opposite the hospital where I was born.
They're all very helpful to people phoning and chatting about new words for the next editions.
Richard.
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never heard it before but i here brits use Q E D to kind of wrap up an explanation
they spell it out like asap
wrote...
OED stands for Oxford English Dictionary. As in Oxford, England.
So the closest the UK has to 'cheese it' is 'cheese it,' since the phrase originated in England.
QED an acronym for 'quod erat demonstrandum,' which is latin for 'which was to be demonstrated.'
-Jay
-Jay
"Rev. Bleech_" wrote in message news:[email]...
[best bits snipped]
I think we have the same type of thing based on the principles of the youth joining groups. In the UKs schools we had (and maybe still have) what are called 'houses' or some similar term. The drinking and debauchery was left to the teaching staff.
Richard.
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I think that "Animal House" has more to do with what we think happnes at a college and in a fraternity than what actually happens There was a behind-the-scenes show on "Animal House" one time, and in it, the producers mentioned that the whole toga party thing was made up, since real colleges didn't have them, but after the movie, they did. Fraternities or "frats" basically do stupid initiation stunts, drink lots of beer, and do various other stereotypical "male" things. It's kinda like the "boys only, no girls" clubhouses that kids have, only with alcohol.
Ken
In 1972 I attended my my first frat party (I was a senior in high school) and several of the brothers were wrapped in bed-sheet togas,
and several
So do you have to belong to a frat to go to college - do you get elected into one or do you have to find one that will take you? In the UK (well in my day anyway) you get put in a Halls of Residence and then you try not to die of starvation or cold etc.
Paul "Did we give up when the German's bombed Pearl Harbour?"
You don't have to belong to a frat, some people say it enhances the college experience, builds comraderie, long history of frats, etc., but memerbership is not required, it's considered an extracurricular activity. I wasn't in one in college, and I don't think I missed out on anything, but I've never been much of a club type person anyway.
I believe that you're elected into a frat, you have to pledge and whatnot and they decide if they want you in.
You have to be the "right" kind of person (spoiled, republican, lazy, and
not too bright) and be taking an approved major (i.e., business major, see
previous comment.).
Some feel that repressed homosexual urges are a requirement; actually
it's merely helpful.
Then they all graduate with C averages, half get hired by their
father's companies, the other half get hired by the first half. A few go
on to politics, especially those who got C averages at Yale.-- L.Y. (Who Works For A Living)
On Thu, 13 Feb 2003 17:19:18 -0600, Luxury Yacht wrote:
Frat's, and their female counterparts, sororities, vary quite a bit. They generally have two or three Greek letters for their names Like Epsilon-Rho-Rho which would spell out ERR.
When I enrolled in college, I got letters inviting me to check out a number of frats. Most bragged about social contacts and parties etc.. Some bragged about their graduation percentage and grades.
Some are based on majors, like all engineers, or require high grades to get in.
I rented a room in a frat house over one summer. They had a file cabinet with file for most of the common classes with last years exams in them.
--Larry
Larry:
Actually, it would spell EPP, since the Greek letter Rho looks like our P. I guess they thought that wouldn't be as funny, though.
"Nathan Mulac DeHoff" wrote in message news:[email]...
I
You down with EPP? (yeah you know me)
-Jay
On Thu, 13 Feb 2003, Ken wrote:
One of my most cherished memories of college was the time I convinced a group of toga'd/drunk/business major/idiot frat brats that "Pendejo" (SP?) meant "babe," and "cajones" meant venerial disease. Thus encouraging them to run around campus shouting "Hey Pendejo, we got no cajones."
It was just too easy.
-- L.Y.
Luxury Yacht wrote in news:[email]:
I want to point out, that pendejo is not a real spanish word, at least not in Spain. Although South Americans use it. Cajones are drawers, the word you are looking for is cojones. Yeah i am nitpicking :P
Following on from this thread, can anyone explain the term "brass ring" as in Nixon's head saying "This is the brass ring fellas"?
Paul "cham pag ne?"
Paul Matthews:
Carousels used to have brass rings on them, and grabbing the brass ring would allow someone to get a free ride.
in article [email], Paul Matthews at [email] wrote on 2/17/03 1:55 PM:
The term "Grabbing the brass ring" refers to an older style of the amusement park ride - the merry-go-round (a circular ride generally with horses made of wood/plastic) People who sat on the outer ring of horses used to be able to reach out and grab a brass ring from a dispenser on each pass around the circle. There is still one located at the Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk in CA. After you grab the ring, your supposed to toss it into the mouth of a clown. Doing so rings a bell.
Boy, the human is an easy creature to entertain.
yea the brass ring gives you a free ride most of the rings are steel
i've been to the boardwalk and its a hoot to actually be able to do someting on the carosel besides getting dizzy
i cheat though and use both hands so i can maybe get 3 rings each time around
havent ever got a brass ring though i dont think they really have any there
i though it was bendeko like when cheech got chong to say to that family "hey bendeckos"