Screw the Pooch

**Reverend Joe** · 06-10-2008, 00:53

Okay, I am sick and tired of hearing this phrase misused over and over since the movie, "Once upon a Time in Mexico," god bless it, came out. Everybody seems to have misunderstood this phrase as a result of context.

Its actual meaning, according to the Dictionary of American Slang, is to dick around; to waste time. It is a derivitave of "to **** the dog" and, propery used, it would appear as such: "We better quit screwing the pooch anf get to work." It does NOT mean to screw up a situation.

Look it up, damnit.

Edit: I just googled it, and it seems there are some very different definitions out there... so, never mind... please, discuss.

Edit 2: it seems Tom Wolfe, rather than Robert Rodriguez, screwed this one up.

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=350436

But, seriously, let's get this straightened out, once and for all. No more following Tom Wolfe's erroneous example. Use it right from now on.

**Beirut** · 06-10-2008, 01:41

1. screw the pooch

To **** things up royally; originally used by U.S. naval aviators to mean "crash one's plane into the water"

Deal with it.

**cmacq** · 06-10-2008, 05:17

By an action of ones gross negligence that either did or will result in the messing of things up royally. If the end result was a plane in the drink the term was used because the driver was a dud.

**PBI** · 06-10-2008, 10:26

I'm afraid the problem with language (especially slang) is, that if people keep using a phrase the "wrong" way enough, it will eventually become the "right" way. Languages evolve.

If someone uses a phrase in a sense that isn't in the dictionary, one could argue it is the dictionary that is at fault, since the purpose of the dictionary is to describe how the language is used, not to prescribe how it should be used.

An argument I often use during Scrabble.

**Whacker** · 06-10-2008, 10:34

It's not just slang either. One of the most common "words" I've ever heard in the IT industry is "solutioned", used as a verb. It's a non-existent word, yet I hear it almost daily, and honestly I think it sounds fine and correct. Language purists will probably tear their hair out, but I foresee this one making it's way into the dictionary officially eventually. /shrug

**macsen rufus** · 06-10-2008, 13:27

"solutioned", used as a verb.

Speaking as a rather mild language fascist, I must say that one makes me want to retch. It is gross abuse! As for it taking off, I doubt it, as using "solutions" is rapidly becoming a laughable and pitiable component of terminology - Private Eye even devotes a column to deflating those companies that like to describe their services in terms of "solutions". I think the odds favour satire over neologism.

To me "solutioned" (as opposed to "solved") implies, "well, we applied a solution, but it didn't solve anything..."

**Whacker** · 06-10-2008, 10:25

Wow, people must be barking mad. It's a bit funny to see someone so rabidly attack this issue. Give it a good licking there, RJ! Just hope you didn't bite off more than you can chew with this thread.

Originally Posted by Beirut

To **** things up royally; originally used by U.S. naval aviators to mean "crash one's plane into the water"

So... If you crash your plane into the GROUND, what would the proper phrase be? "screw the cat"? Or some other domesticated animal? I always liked the one in Fighters Anthology, "OH SH...."

Inquiring minds want to know!

**drone** · 06-10-2008, 15:45

Originally Posted by Whacker

So... If you crash your plane into the GROUND, what would the proper phrase be? "screw the cat"? Or some other domesticated animal? I always liked the one in Fighters Anthology, "OH SH...."

Inquiring minds want to know!

The answer to this is, of course, "bought the farm". More meaningful than "screwed the pooch", since the US government would pay farmers for damage caused by crashed airplanes back in the day. "Bought the farm" usually described a spectacular crash.

**Reverend Joe** · 06-10-2008, 18:00

Originally Posted by Beirut

1. screw the pooch

To **** things up royally; originally used by U.S. naval aviators to mean "crash one's plane into the water"

Deal with it.

Originally Posted by http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=350436

"Screw the Pooch
The phrase screw the pooch, meaning to mess up, commit a grievous
error, was made famous in Tom Wolfe's book The Right Stuff. The phrase
is a euphemism from US military slang. The original expression was
**** the dog and meant to waste time, to loaf on the job.

**** the dog dates appears in print for the first time in 1935, but in
1918 another euphemistic version, feeding the dog, appears. The
original sense dates to 1918. Over the decades, the meaning shifted to
the current sense and the screw the pooch wording took the place of
the original phrasing."

Etymologies & Word Origins
http://www.wordorigins.org/wordors.htm

"The phrase 'screw the pooch' itself was derived from an earlier
phrase that was quite familiar to those of us in the service in WW2. I
was a Fire Control Computer technician (Fire Controlman) in the US
Navy 1944-1946.

Anyone who has ever been in the military has spent an inordinate
amount of time in a 'stand-by' formation waiting for someone to get
the orders to start some activity. Many man-hours were spent in an
activity that was commonly known as 'Effing the dog.' [Note: They
didn't really say, 'Effing,' but I'm sure you can figure it out.] Back
home in civilian life this was cleaned up to the slightly more
acceptable 'screwing the pooch."

The LangaList
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-03-21.htm

But yeah, I really need to quit drinking every night and having impassioned debates over what I perceive to be the Andes, what may in fact be a series of molehills.

Still, I kinda prefer the older meaning... there's something much more... eloquent about the idea of "sitting around and ******* the dog."