२६ जुलै, २०१९

I had to look up "Susan Collins is toast."



I found this:

Screen Shot 2019-07-26 at 6.28.28 AM

Thanks, Google. Thanks, Jennifer Rubin.

The use of "toast" to mean "A person or thing that is defunct, dead, finished, in serious trouble, etc." originated — if I am to believe the Oxford English Dictionary — with "Ghostbusters"!
1983 D. Aykroyd & H. Ramis Ghostbusters (film script, third draft) 123 Venkman..: Okay. That's it! I'm gonna turn this guy into toast.
As the OED explains with exquisite pedantry:
The lines in quot. 1983 do not in fact appear in the U.S. film Ghostbusters as released in 1985, since a considerable amount of the dialogue is ad-libbed. The actual words spoken by Venkman (played by Bill Murray) as he prepares to fire a laser-type weapon, are, ‘This chick is toast’; this is probably the origin of the proleptic construction which has gained particular currency.
"Proleptic use" means in phrases like "You're toast," "I'm toast," and "Susan Collins is toast."

I still don't know — and don't really care — what happened to Susan Collins.

७५ टिप्पण्या:

Kevin म्हणाले...

There's no new news about Collins. Just a dumb joke.

So it’s like a typical Jen Rubin column.

Sharc 65 म्हणाले...

"Toast" just means "done." As in, waiting for the toaster to pop up -- once the bread has become toast, it's done. This was true well before Ghostbusters.

jaydub म्हणाले...

Nothing happened to her, so there is nothing to know or care about, I guess.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

When I copied the code originally, Twitter supplied the context and it was apparent what Collins was talking about. I've fixed the code to restore the look of what I saw at Twitter that made me write this post.

But if you saw this post immediately after publication, you saw the context (which I changed about 2 minutes after publishing), an Endless Jeopardy question "Maine has this 4-word motto."

As a jocose answer to that, Rubin's tweet is definitely not something I'd choose to blog.

Gunner म्हणाले...

Rubin is one of those "severely conservative" Mitt Romney Republicans who now believes all (liberal) women.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

""Toast" just means "done." As in, waiting for the toaster to pop up -- once the bread has become toast, it's done. This was true well before Ghostbusters."

That's the way you feel about it, but do you know? I assume the OED looked hard to find a pre-Ghostbusters usage. Your memory can be distorted. You may think it's an old saying, but maybe not. I mean, I too feel it's been around forever, but my new assumption is that the OED got it right.

Kevin म्हणाले...

As a jocose answer to that, Rubin's tweet is definitely not something I'd choose to blog.

We thought you were blogging about toast.

Breadium Ghostbusterus.

Or something like that.

rehajm म्हणाले...

At first I thought Susan Collins toast was a thing- like a Jack Russel terrier. Then much to my disappointment I see it's just leftie pouting.

...as a public service I went and looked so you don't have to. There's a 'poll' describing her as the second least popular senator (the horror!), some bragging about the fundraising for her yet to be named opponent. Make that opponents, as there seems to be a line forming.

Go long clown cars. (Take a long position in clown cars, that is, not like Go! Go long clown cars!...I'll just go back to my coffee now...)

I Callahan म्हणाले...

Professor, that’s what it means. There isn’t some deep etymology about it. It just means she’s done. Nothing else.

gilbar म्हणाले...

https://www.politicususa.com/2019/07/18/susan-collins-approval-rating.html

Posted on Thu, Jul 18th, 2019 by Jason Easley
Susan Collins Could Be Toast As Her Approval Rating Plummets In Maine

Leland म्हणाले...

More on toast from the NYT.

Howard म्हणाले...

It originated to lame-assed people not hep to the bleeding edge of the cultural decline when Ghostbusters first appeared. Toast was in heavy use as teenage slang in Southern California since at least the early 1970's. It likely came from people getting toasted in fiery crashes.

The OED is like museum curators. They are always the last to know their authenticated masterpieces are fake.

mccullough म्हणाले...

Ghostbusters was released in 1984, not 1985.

Howard म्हणाले...

Getting scorched causes damage, but is not fatal like becoming toast.

tcrosse म्हणाले...

We can all drink to that.

rehajm म्हणाले...

I too feel it's been around forever, but my new assumption is that the OED got it right.

Yup. Others on the interwebs make the claim it was around before but there's no presented evidence it predates the movie. There's a NYT article saying first usage was in 1987 but the movie was earlier to, poo on you NYT.

Rusty म्हणाले...

Let's give a toast to Althouse, who is not toast.

Leland म्हणाले...

Now, we can all go to reddit.

Drago म्हणाले...

Gunner: "Rubin is one of those "severely conservative" Mitt Romney Republicans who now believes all (liberal) women."

Oh its much worse than that.

Jennifer Rubin is a key member of "Conservative Inc", the fake Bill Kristol-like "conservatives" who actually support every lefty/dem policy and politician while being paid by the left to act as the Washington Generals in the neverending GOPe Failure Theatre Production of "The Conservative Case For Why Its Always Best When The Dems Win".

rhhardin म्हणाले...

She's a prolapse waiting to happen.

Anne in Rockwall, TX म्हणाले...

Now I'm confused. The link to the Endless Jeopardy question was "Maine has this four word motto."

But I thought Maine's motto was Dirigo.

David Begley म्हणाले...

Impeachment is toast.

Leland म्हणाले...

Milquetoast goes back to 1938. That term was derived from milk toast, which is softening toast in milk. So people were being called milquetoast (weak, timid) nearly 50 years before going back to just being done toast.

John Borell म्हणाले...

Jennifer Rubin, the self-identified "conservative" blogger at the Washington Post.

Which by Washington Post standards, means "leans left of center but isn't full moonbat crazy."

Mr. Forward म्हणाले...

Long clown cars were introduced when the circus ran out of skinny post war Europeans. You can only cram so many Americans into an old fashioned clown car. 16 clowns was considered the optimum number, more than that’s not funny.

rehajm म्हणाले...

But I thought Maine's motto was Dirigo

It is. There's the tourism slogan It Must be Maine or the nickname The Pine Tree State. I suspect the Jeopardy! answers for that online game aren't as well vetted as for the TV show.

Left Bank of the Charles म्हणाले...

I don’t know about the OED. It describes Bill Murray’s proton pack as a “laser-type weapon.” If they can’t get their science right...

iowan2 म्हणाले...

Oh, now it makes sense. SUSAN Collins. I read Susan, my brain went to Jackie Collins. Sometimes our host's eclectic interests send me adrift. I can never assume she is going in a certain direction, so when I hear hoof beats, I usually start with Zebras, or Gnus.

narciso म्हणाले...

And the walls are closing in right jen,

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

I've never seen Toastbusters.

narciso म्हणाले...

Particle beam weapon, who edits this thing?

Birkel म्हणाले...

iowan2 wins the inter webs for his(?) whimsical use if gnus.

Congrats!

Tank म्हणाले...

I like toast better than I like Susan Collins.

tcrosse म्हणाले...

It's the toast of the town.

Bill Crawford म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Danno म्हणाले...

Howard said ..."The OED is like museum curators. They are always the last to know their authenticated masterpieces are fake."

Howard, yes is certainly one of your best observations shared on this blog.

Danno म्हणाले...

this is

narciso म्हणाले...

Politicusa is for people who thing immoral minority is too sane.

Wilbur म्हणाले...

1938?

"In 1924, Webster moved to the New York World and soon after added The Timid Soul featuring the wimpy Caspar Milquetoast." - From the Wikipedia article on Caspar Milquetoast.

Here's James Lileks on the strip: http://lileks.com/institute/comicsins/comics/milquetoast/index.html

narciso म्हणाले...


Rubin has to stop huffing paint


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/policy-and-politics/2019/6/26/18715434/susan-collins-maine-senate-race-2020

Ralph L म्हणाले...

It's hard to believe P.G. Wodehouse didn't use it somewhere, considering how much of his enormous body of work is made-up slang.

Browndog म्हणाले...

I just googled "Susan Collins/toast"

This Althouse blog is the 2nd return.

This is the first:

Susan Collins Could Be Toast As Her Approval Rating Plummets In ...
https://www.politicususa.com › 2020 › Editors' Picks › Featured News

Jul 18, 2019 - Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) is now the second least popular Senator in America as her approval rating has plummeted to a net (-16) in Maine.

rehajm म्हणाले...

Susan Collins is milqetoast.

TJM म्हणाले...

Jennifer Rubin would be toast if she worked for a real news organization. She is as phoney as a three dollar bill and just as worthless

William म्हणाले...

Robert Mueller went from toast of the town to toast in this town PDQ. How fickle are the uses of fame. Those who fall, fall butter side down.

Charlie म्हणाले...

Even though she truly is a squishy, moderate Republican, the left's new favorite fantasy is that Collins will be defeated because of her role in the Cavanaugh hearings. This is delusional. She has a ton of money and is pretty popular with regular people. She will get at least 60% of the vote without breaking a sweat.

cubanbob म्हणाले...

So what do you prefer on your Susan Collins: jam, butter or cream cheese?

Ray म्हणाले...

"Susan Collins got toasted last night"

In the late 70's (and probably before), it meant you got extremely high (usually on drugs).
See also: fried

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent म्हणाले...

“The OED is like museum curators. They are always the last to know their authenticated masterpieces are fake.”

Yes and no. When you’re trying to curate an entire language, with every contentious knucklehead on the Internet taking shots, you probably don’t really care that the Peter Max was bought on a cruise ship.

Ken B म्हणाले...

I used to respect Rubin, which apparently was a mistake. She is absurd these days. I saw a detailed listing of times she contradicted herself just because Trump. The funniest example was the embassy in Jerusalem. She had been for moving it for years but went Trump did called it reckless and foolish.

Collins gave the best speech of any American politician since Reagan. Of course Rubin hates her.

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

Jenn Rubin is a lost #NeverTrumper, upset that Collins made the key vote to confirm Kavanaugh to SCOTUS, thereby giving Trump a political victory. Nobody cares what she thinks about anything.

wwww म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent म्हणाले...

Ray,

Also, baked.
And why does no one use “smack” as a pejorative anymore? Perfectly good slang that just vanished around 1980.

wwww म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Wince म्हणाले...

The peril of playing to the center is that nobody likes you.

Collins is most infamous for voting to confirm Trump Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, but she has also mastered the dark art of the bland statement that expresses “concern” about Donald Trump while never actually taking a stand against or condemning him. She also voted for Trump’s tax cuts for the rich, but in the end, she will be defined by her vote for Kavanaugh which is viewed as the single moment that put reproductive freedom in jeopardy.

To me that seems like an awful narrow and attenuated motive NOT to vote for Collins, an admission that opposition to Kavanaugh's nomination was a deceitful and defamatory pretext, actually vindicating her defiance of the opposition.

Why not blame the senators who made the issue Kavanaugh's yearbook?

Darrell म्हणाले...

Thinking he had got us fairly on toast, he meant to blackmail us pretty freely.

— John Guille Millais, A Breath from the Veldt, 1895


I remember some old Korean War movie using "they're toast" after the use of a flamethrower.

Birkel म्हणाले...

One of the only (to a Leftist) good Republicans will be gone.
I will trade Collins for a good, solid Alabama conservative.

jerpod म्हणाले...

I watched Ghost Busters recently for the first time in probably 25 years. It holds up pretty well, but only because it's such a pleasure to watch Bill Murray being Bill Murray. Honorable mention to Rick Moranis. ("We'd like to take a sample of your brain for further study". Moranis answers "OK").

narciso म्हणाले...

The morning consult poll has her at 52, some oth poll (of dubious privenance) has her in the low 40s, comeon

narciso म्हणाले...

To put it in perspective Chris coons has the same rating and Mitt Romney is one point higher.

Birkel म्हणाले...

narciso,
I would rather keep a squish than have another Leftist Collectivist in office.
But I would trade an Alabama Democrat and Collins for an Alabama conservative and a Democratic Mainer.

Original Mike म्हणाले...

Pretty disappointing when you're in trouble for standing up for due process.

narciso म्हणाले...

I would as well, jen Rubin is not a barometer of anything, now the fact that bug nutz Angus king is 56% should concern you.

Birkel म्हणाले...

The Bostonians who moved away from the mess they made at home have now ruined New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.
They're locusts.

On the West Coast, Californians ruined California and are now doing the same to Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado.

Did anybody notice polled Latinos have Trump's approval at 50%?
And at 33% from polled blacks?
(Likely voters in both cases, the only polling that matters.)

And UPenn professors say Trump has improved race relations.

I think we'll see presidential coattails.

rcocean म्हणाले...

Rubin is a liar and a FAKE. She was a liberal Hollywood lawyer who came to the WaPo and labeled herself a "Conservative". Once Trump came along, she couldn't keep the Con going. Now, she's gone back to being a liberal Democrat. Some boobs still buy her act. The Center-Right has always been full of gullible fools.

rcocean म्हणाले...

Yes, I've read the Mass-a-holes have ruined New England.

अनामित म्हणाले...

Maine was a rock ribbed conservative state a long time ago. The influx of people "from away" particularly in the Portland area has changed all that. Collins, better than King, reflects the values of the entire state as composed today. I think she may be the last of what I think of as Rockefeller Republicans. Fairly liberal socially, fairly conservative financially , but willing to be her own person. She's a bit too liberal for me sometimes but I give her credit for the way she approaches her job. Jennifer Rubin, as you all say, is another story entirely. As far as I can tell she, like Bill Kristol and several others, has no political principles at all. I am not even sure why she is in such a snit about Trump other than, if she weren't it, might cost her her job.

As far as polls today? Baloney!

dreams म्हणाले...

Susan Collins, supposedly a heroine for merely doing what she should have done. As to Jennifer Rubin, when she joined the Washington Post and started referring to her colleagues at the Post in her columns, I knew she would eventually become toast as far as I was concerned.

sbb म्हणाले...

How about a shout-out to Elvis "Toast" Patterson - a defensive back for the New York Giants. He was given the nickname "Toast" for getting "burned" by opposing wide receivers.

PJ म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Quaestor म्हणाले...

Venkman..: Okay. That's it! I'm gonna turn this guy into toast.

Venkman's actual line as given in the movie at 1:27:31 is, All right, this chick [i.e. Gozer] is toast.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

It would be a shame if Collins lost for that one act of honor and integrity. That speech she gave when she announced she would vote to confirm Kavanaugh was probably the best speech by a senator I have seen in my lifetime. I have to come expect so little from politicians, that her speech that day was such a surprise.

Jim at म्हणाले...

How about a shout-out to Elvis "Toast" Patterson - a defensive back for the New York Giants

You stole my comment. Bill Parcells dubbed him 'Toast.'
He truly lived up to his nickname as a SD Charger.

Josephbleau म्हणाले...

Whatever you say about Massachusetts folks, every study shows they are the smartest and best educated people in the US. Mass people (and Philadelphia people) went out to all the rest of the nation to create institutions of learning. This just goes to show that education and learning are not all there is to value.

This म्हणाले...

William Saletan is toast.