Cur

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Cur

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sun Nov 13, 2022 9:18 pm

• cur •


Pronunciation: kêr • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. A mongrel, a mutt, an ill-bred or mixed-breed dog. 2. A deprecative name for a disagreeable, dirty, ill-tempered, or sickly dog. 3. A despicable person with no breeding.

Notes: Although today's word is a lexical orphan, it may be used as an adjective in such words as cur-dog, cur-fox and cur-tyke. It has a wide-ranging family with a multitude of meanings (see Word History).

In Play: Curs are dogs that are nasty in some way: "The mutt next door learned how far our pedigreed pup can make cur fur fly the hard way." Given the meaning of cur we might expect that it would be used to refer to people we don't like: "That two-legged cur ran off with another man's wife!"

Word History: The [k] sound is identical with [g] except the vocal cords don't vibrate. There are many, many words among the Indo-European languages based on [g_r] or [gr_] referring to sounds like ill-tempered dogs make, like growl. In fact, the Oxford English Dictionary lists grr(r) "to growl" as a verb. It is used in books to represent the sound of dogs growling. English gurgle, gargle and grumble represent similar sounds. All these words come from PIE gher-/ghor-"gurgle, babble", an imitative verb, which turns up in Sanskrit ghurghurah "gurgling sound", Slovene grgati "to gargle", Albanian grykë "throat", Serbian grlo "throat", Swedish kurra "to rumble", and Russian gorlo "throat". (Now a double bow to Luciano Eduardo de Oliveira, an editor of this series and long-standing contributor of Good Words as catchy as today's.)
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Debbymoge
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Re: Cur

Postby Debbymoge » Mon Nov 14, 2022 1:14 pm

Is gorge also a relative?
Either throat, or a chasm, which has always in my mind had to have a river roaring deep inside in order to be a gorge.
I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.
Shakespear

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Slava
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Re: Cur

Postby Slava » Mon Nov 14, 2022 1:26 pm

Judging from the Dr.'s treatment of gorgeous, I'd say yes, they are related.
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bbeeton
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Re: Cur

Postby bbeeton » Mon Nov 14, 2022 6:03 pm

Well, Slava, you're from the Finger Lakes region, so you should know that Ithaca is said to be gorges, even if you don't agree.

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Slava
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Re: Cur

Postby Slava » Mon Nov 14, 2022 6:25 pm

Actually, the whole area is pretty nice, except for the Mt. Trashmores growing around us, altering the landscape and creating a decided miasma.

By the by, does the Agora agree with me that cur is an almost exclusively male oriented slur? The partner to bitch?
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

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Re: Cur

Postby Debbymoge » Tue Nov 15, 2022 1:31 pm

Slava, sounds right to me. The only caveat I would suggest is that "cur" is somehow less odious than "bitch", but then that is the one that would be directed at me and you the other.
What's your take?
Are they equal in your estimation?

BBeeton, goodun!!!
I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.
Shakespear

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Slava
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Re: Cur

Postby Slava » Tue Nov 15, 2022 9:31 pm

I would agree that the 'b' word is a much more loaded epithet. I had to think it over quite a bit before I decided to put it out there in all its glory.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

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Re: Cur

Postby David Myer » Sat Nov 19, 2022 6:18 am

I think we are grown -up enough to handle it, Slava.


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