Althouse: They sort of like saying "shithole" — because they said it a few extra times.

January 13, 2018

They sort of like saying "shithole" — because they said it a few extra times.

I'm paraphrasing Lenny Bruce — at the behest of a reader who sent me this clip:

65 comments:

n.n said...: Do you know why? Because people like to say salsa.
- Seinfeld

Also, manure is good. Think about it. Ma - mother, and nure or newer.; 1/13/18, 11:39 AM
n.n said...: Shithole characterizing an environment of trouble and misfortune.

There is also shitlist.

And shitshow (e.g. elective regime change, abortion fields, Libya, refugee crisis, trail of tears).; 1/13/18, 11:41 AM
rhhardin said...: Chinese fire drill is my favorite.; 1/13/18, 11:49 AM
tcrosse said...: It's a clusterfuck.; 1/13/18, 11:51 AM
Wince said...: We've come full circle. How soon will it again be illegal to speak vernacular for a homosexual practice in San Francisco?

The notion that the staging of a play about comedian Lenny Bruce would be held up over incendiary content seems too ironic to be true. Or like the setup for a scorching joke Bruce would have told.

But half a century after Bruce’s death, the social satirist and free-speech champion is a character in a drama unfolding at Brandeis University, where theater and arts faculty decided to postpone the planned fall staging of a script by a distinguished graduate, playwright Michael Weller, after some students and alumni complained the work vilified its black characters and the Black Lives Matter social movement.

Bruce's observation about the breathless, obsessive repetition of a contextually dependent word "liberal" Trump critics purport to disdain was prescient and timeless.

Trump is exactly what this country needed if we are even to attempt to avoid going that path Hillary Clinton and her ilk were paving.; 1/13/18, 11:52 AM
bagoh20 said...: I reluctantly voted for him, and was certainly no fan last year, but I'm quickly coming around to see that this is so very very true on a number of levels:

"Trump is exactly what this country needed..."; 1/13/18, 12:08 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: “Trump is exactly what this country needed if we are even to attempt to avoid going that path Hillary Clinton and her ilk were paving.”

Some people overuse the word “ilk”. I use the word “spew” too often. We need to be more creative!; 1/13/18, 12:08 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Lenny Bruce is a character on the Golden Globe-winning TV show "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."; 1/13/18, 12:08 PM
Unknown said...: Inga said...
"Some people overuse the word “ilk”. I use the word “spew” too often. We need to be more creative!"

I love when there is a comment that isn't reflexively political.

Seriously.

-jj; 1/13/18, 12:13 PM
robother said...: I highly recommend pronouncing "shithole" to rhyme with "frijole." The multi-culti frisson makes it even more fun to say.; 1/13/18, 12:16 PM
trumpintroublenow said...: I'm in Ouahu - Alert on phone 8 minutes ago -"Emergency Alert. Ballistic Missile Threat Inbound to Hawaii. Seek Immediate Shelter. This is Not a Drill"; 1/13/18, 12:16 PM
Achilles said...: Inga said...
“Trump is exactly what this country needed if we are even to attempt to avoid going that path Hillary Clinton and her ilk were paving.”

Some people overuse the word “ilk”. I use the word “spew” too often. We need to be more creative!

Ilk is short for National Socialist or Fascist. For the historically illiterate they are the same thing.; 1/13/18, 12:18 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: “Ilk is short for National Socialist or Fascist. For the historically illiterate they are the same thing.”

Was that an attempt at humor? Bravo Achilles!

ilk
NOUN

1A type of person or thing similar to one already referred to.
‘the veiled suggestions that reporters of his ilk seem to be so good at’
‘there was music by Parry and Elgar and others of that ilk’
More example sentencesSynonyms
1.1of that ilkScottish archaic Of the place or estate of the same name.
‘Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk’
More example sentences
Usage
Today ilk is used in phrases such as of his ilk and of that ilk to mean ‘type’ or ‘sort’. This sense arose out of a misunderstanding of the earlier, Scottish use in the phrase of that ilk, where it means ‘of the same name or place’. For this reason, some traditionalists regard the modern use as incorrect. It is, however, the only common current sense and is now part of standard English
Origin
Old English ilca ‘same’, of Germanic origin; related to alike.

Oxford dictionaries; 1/13/18, 12:25 PM
trumpintroublenow said...: Someone must have hacked into the emergency broadcast system. Everything seems good. No sirens. Just the phone message.; 1/13/18, 12:26 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: “Someone must have hacked into the emergency broadcast system. Everything seems good. No sirens. Just the phone message.”

Wow. You had me checking to see what I could find. That’s some scary shit.; 1/13/18, 12:30 PM
Achilles said...: Inga said...
“Ilk is short for National Socialist or Fascist. For the historically illiterate they are the same thing.”

Was that an attempt at humor? Bravo Achilles!

ilk
NOUN

...

God you are stupid...; 1/13/18, 12:36 PM
William said...: Posterity has been very kind to Lenny Bruce. I saw him on the Mrs. Maisel show. He's quite the saint. He would never hit on Mrs. Maisel. No #metoo for Lenny. He was above that kind of thing.; 1/13/18, 12:38 PM
chickelit said...: There's no use in crying over spewed ilk.; 1/13/18, 12:40 PM
chickelit said...: Personally, I've used "herds of ilk." It's better than "lemmings."; 1/13/18, 12:42 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: “Ilk is short for National Socialist or Fascist. For the historically illiterate they are the same thing.”

Was that an attempt at humor? Bravo Achilles!

ilk
NOUN

OK, now explain what you’re trying to say. You’re sounding a wee bit nutty again.; 1/13/18, 12:45 PM
Wince said...: Evidently, "ilk" is the new "cock sucker" and "shit hole" :-); 1/13/18, 12:50 PM
themightypuck said...: "Lenny Bruce is a character on the Golden Globe-winning TV show "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.""

According to Gavin Macinnes, Mrs. Maisel is basically the Lenny Bruce story with a gender swap of the main character. Girl Power!!!!; 1/13/18, 12:50 PM
n.n said...: clusterfuck

Or in semantically safer terms: dysfunctional convergence, a progressive process.; 1/13/18, 12:54 PM
n.n said...: National Socialist or Fascist. For the historically illiterate they are the same thing

In principle, they both represent centralized, minority capital (e.g. single-payer) and control schemes, that were historically diverse (e.g. racist, politically congruent) in heterogeneous societies.; 1/13/18, 12:56 PM
Ken B said...: Ilk is useful because coven isn't PC.; 1/13/18, 1:05 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Nearly every episode of Trailer Park Boys had a variant of shit--blank--.

Jim Lahey's Shitisms.; 1/13/18, 1:06 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: "You just opened Pandora's shit-box" is at 6:08 in the above link.; 1/13/18, 1:16 PM
BJM said...: *Snert*

We're barely into January and Inga's already reached peak irony:; 1/13/18, 1:58 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: I am impressed that the President of the United States paying a porn star for her silence does not qualify as the biggest story of the day - both shitholegate and now ballisticmissilegate are bigger stories. Defining deviancy down.; 1/13/18, 2:02 PM
tcrosse said...: Defining deviancy down.

And whose fault is that, ARM ?; 1/13/18, 2:04 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Trump's remaining supporters.; 1/13/18, 2:08 PM
tcrosse said...: Trump's remaining supporters.

All those Trump supporters in the media who decide which stories to emphasize ?; 1/13/18, 2:11 PM
Mark said...: I am impressed that the President of the United States paying a porn star for her silence does not qualify as the biggest story of the day - both shitholegate and now ballisticmissilegate are bigger stories.

Yes. Awful. Horrible. Disgusting. Trump is bad.

But here's the thing -- and understand this well -- the Democrats, progressives and rest of the left, the Republican establishment -- and, yeah sure, throw yourself in here too -- the thing is that all of these others are WORSE. And that has to been really galling. Yeah, Trump is shit -- but people still prefer him to you and your lot. Think on that.; 1/13/18, 2:16 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: The fact that no one is surprised that the President of the United State paid off a porn star is not the media's fault, the fault lies with those people who still support the lardass.; 1/13/18, 2:16 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Mark said...
people still prefer him

Interesting use of the word prefer, given that he lost the popular vote and has only lost support since then.; 1/13/18, 2:18 PM
Mark said...: That's it. Ignore the point and continue to delude yourself. As I said, it's pretty galling. No wonder you and others would prefer to keep your head(s) up your ass to avoid having to admit it to yourself.; 1/13/18, 2:22 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: “Yeah, Trump is shit -- but people still prefer him to you and your lot.”

Good work! You didn’t use “ilk”.; 1/13/18, 2:32 PM
Bilwick said...: You know what's a real shithole? The mind of your average "liberal." It's a fetid cesspool of snake-oil economics, envy and as the French say, "ressentiment" (if they don't have it they like to stoke it), and neo-mediaeval State-cultism. See the posts of various "liberals" on this blog.; 1/13/18, 2:32 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: “Others”

The 35%.; 1/13/18, 2:34 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: “...neo-mediaeval State-cultism. See the posts of various "liberals" on this blog.”

Only Trump-cultism sanctioned here!; 1/13/18, 2:37 PM
Bilwick said...: Brilliant point, Inga! I don't know why so many people here think you're an idiot. But you'd have to address your point to an actual Trump cultist.; 1/13/18, 2:44 PM
Bilwick said...: Forgot to add, in my description of the cesspool that is the "liberal" mind, a horror of the syllogism on a level of Dracula's horror of crucifixes. (See "Inga," various posts.); 1/13/18, 2:47 PM
Krumhorn said...: Maybe it’s for the best that a crude self-promoting lout like Trump is giving us the opportunity to ignore a payoff to a hooker. It wouldn’t be the worst thing if a flawed human is permitted to make a credible run for office. Short of corruption or criminal conduct, we ought to be able to live with someone as president who is not a paradigm of unachievable virtue.

It makes it harder to bring someone down over inconsequential defects, and it helps to know the flaws without having to guess at them because they have been skillfully concealed from us. It makes Oval Office blowjobs and hotel break-ins and photos in front of the Monkey Business seem pretty ordinary.

Then we can focus on actual policy. And I happen to agree that we shouldn’t encourage immigration from shithole countries. They are shithole countries for a reason.

- Krumhorn; 1/13/18, 2:57 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: “...neo-mediaeval State-cultism. See the posts of various "liberals" on this blog.”

But you'd have to address your point to actual neo-mediaeval State-cultists. This is a figment of your imagination, or a product of right wing propaganda...yawn.; 1/13/18, 3:00 PM
Bilwick said...: Of course, Inga. Anyone reading your posts can see you're a regular John Locke.; 1/13/18, 3:13 PM
dustbunny said...: I see Sean Penn is being high and mighty about the Haiti and Africa thing but I remember him as Valerie Plaime's husband in the movie Fair Game. He referred to a place in Africa as a shithole. He produced the movie and portrayed the character as a patriotic guy. Can't find the clip but it would be somewhat satisfying to hear Penn refer to the place in a way he now disparages.; 1/13/18, 4:29 PM
n.n said...: Libya is a neo-shithole (trouble and misfortune) after Obama/Clinton's shitshow.; 1/13/18, 4:46 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Come on! There is already a post on the prez and the porn star. Take the discussion to the right post. This is a new topic. Please watch the video and understand the point I’m making.

The Hawaii screwup is also covered by its own post.

I really don’t know why any reader who cares about this blog would do what is being done in this thread.; 1/13/18, 4:48 PM
FullMoon said...: Watch this, you will feel better. I guarantee it

Ma Ma; 1/13/18, 4:50 PM
FullMoon said...: I listened. That was funny and relevant. CNN repeated shithole over and over and over. The fact they got away with it lowers the bar, again.

BTW, this is hilarious. Would be fun to see Fox , ABC, MSNBC, CBS and NBC using it instead of s...hole.
robother said...

I highly recommend pronouncing "shithole" to rhyme with "frijole." The multi-culti frisson makes it even more fun to say.

1/13/18, 12:16 PM; 1/13/18, 4:59 PM
n.n said...: Salsa sounds a bit like shithole. Remove the h, carry the l, reconfigure the o, and cook at 400F. Everyone likes salsa. Salsa. People like to say it.; 1/13/18, 5:22 PM
n.n said...: CNN repeated shithole over and over and over.

With a shitfaced grin. The anthropogenic climates of trouble and misfortune escaped their attention, again, and again, and again.; 1/13/18, 5:26 PM
tcrosse said...: Go all-natural. Be shitholistic.; 1/13/18, 5:28 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: That Lenny Bruce clip reminds of the recommendation by Althouse to watch "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"....because he was in the show. All of this fantoid vaporing that the MSM is having over Trump's supposed use of shithole is so similar to the vaporous pretending in the 1950's and 1960's that bad words didn't exist and that you can just wish them out of existence.

Well, we sure got over all that Puritanical B.S. a few years later when the Hippies took over :-) Free love and all.

Ooops....looks like the Puritans are back again. The Puritans tsking over every word and every sexual impropriety. Annoyed that somewhere someone might be having fun. Searching out sinners and sexual harassers in every nook and cranny....hmmmm, perhaps that nook and cranny thing wasn't the visual image I wanted to convey. Maybe it was :-)

Anyway. Everyone should watch The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. It is a hoot. Laugh out loud funny. Plus I love the retro clothing and decor. I grew up with that stuff.; 1/13/18, 5:29 PM
tcrosse said...: With a shitfaced grin.

Forgive me, but the Term of Art is 'shiteating grin'.; 1/13/18, 5:29 PM
tcrosse said...: We talk about this at Shitholics Anonymous meetings, for shits and grins.; 1/13/18, 5:33 PM
tcrosse said...: CNN has found the Shitholy Grail. OK, now I'll stop.; 1/13/18, 5:36 PM
William said...: I wonder if she'll get it on with Lenny in future episodes. Probably not. He's just too saintly. Maybe with the lesbo business manager though. That would be an interesting plot twist........ Prediction: The father will be turned down for his dream job because of a past, transient association with the Communist Party. Also, the big time comedienne she made fun of will forgive her because she, Mrs. Maisel and Lenny are all committed to constructing and performing the perfect monologue. They're artists, and no sin is unforgivable if it draws a laugh. Plus, in the land of PC, lesbians, jazz musicians, Communists and hip comedians are blameless creatures who suffer from and for the sins of America.; 1/13/18, 5:56 PM
Night Owl said...: If the left ever gets its sense of humor back, they'll laugh at themselves along with the rest of us.

The people whose party committee chairman likes to use the word shit* in his speeches, the ones who claimed that a president accused of showing his dick to women and asking them to kiss it, that a president getting accused of raping a woman and getting blown in the oval office by an intern is "just sex", the people who thought it was cute when one of them said that women should express their thanks to President Clinton by getting on their knees and blowing him, these people are now shocked that we're not shocked by Trump maybe** saying shithole and maybe** screwing around with a porn star?

Now that's some funny shit.

_____
*The title to the linked article is "Sh*t talking is Democrats' New Strategy", from CNN April 2017.

**I've been trained by the media to discount everything they say about Trump and republicans in general. So unless they have it on video tape, it didn't happen.; 1/13/18, 6:56 PM
Drago said...: ARM: "I am impressed that the President of the United States paying a porn star for her silence does not qualify as the biggest story of the day..."

If you want your fake story covered, you have to launder it thru a dem oppo research firm, pay off a couple of Putins pals to give you more fake info, put it all into a fake dossier and then pay lefty "journalists" to promote it.

If the process is not obvious to you by now, no one can help you.; 1/13/18, 9:46 PM
Anonymous said...: "Steve Uhr said...

"I'm in Ouahu - Alert on phone 8 minutes ago -"Emergency Alert. Ballistic Missile Threat Inbound to Hawaii. Seek Immediate Shelter. This is Not a Drill"

Steve, I don't mean to minimize what you must have gone through. But in that situation, why on earth would you use your time to post on Althouse?!?; 1/13/18, 10:03 PM
gnome said...: Behest??? It behooves you now to admit "garner" isn't so bad after all.

(My spell checker says "behoves" but that can't be right - can it?); 1/14/18, 12:09 AM
walter said...: Blogger Ann Althouse said...
Come on! ..Take the discussion to the right post.
--
Thank you..folks on all points of the spectrum here who should heed this.; 1/14/18, 12:22 AM
walter said...: Nuclear obliteration is an interesting counterpoint to lingual butt-hurt...; 1/14/18, 12:33 AM
Bilwick said...: Today's Instapundit blog has a snarky post about how several celebrities vowed they would move out of the US if Trump got elected. Unfortunately, of course, after the election they all forgot about those vows; but the point of the post was how the celebrities, when identifying the countries they intended to move to named such places as Spain (Chelsea Handler) or Australia (Streisand). "No one," the writer says, "named El Salvador."; 1/14/18, 10:43 AM