MetaChat - I have a Baltimore linguistics question.

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28 August 2007

I have a Baltimore linguistics question. →[More:]In reading Homicide and watching The Wire (not at the same time), I've noticed that "shitbird" is presented as the A-bomb of profanity. Like, someone getting called "shitbird" often provokes a restaurant-quality beatdown, unless the shitbird in question is in cuffs or not present.

Now, I've had a long and storied career in cussing, but I've never used or heard "shitbird" in real life. And if it's that devastating, you'd think I would. Is it really a term you'd hear in Baltimore? If so, is it really the worst possible thing you can call someone? Or is it just a dialog tic of David Simon's?

post by: cobra! at: 11:43 | 8 comments

Yep, Coach Rhodes used to call us "shitbirds" all the time in gym class (Baltimore-area). It's not the worst thing you could call anyone, though; not by a long shot.

posted by Hugh Janus 28 August | 11:47

Right on. Now I'm trying to figure out what the worst thing to call someone (Minneapolis version) would be. It's all pretty lame. We need to spruce up our profanity here.

posted by cobra! 28 August | 13:21

the worst thing to call someone (Minneapolis version)

"North Dakotan"

posted by dersins 28 August | 14:23

Ha!

posted by cobra! 28 August | 14:55

James Elroy's novels (set in L.A. in the '40s and '50s) are peppered with references to shitbirds, so I don't think it's just a Baltimore thing. I think it's kind of a hilarious insult, though.

posted by scody 28 August | 18:39

It's like bird shit, but ridiculously backwards. If someone called me a shitbird, I'd just crack up laughing. Then I'd clam up quickly, embarrassed, thinking they had either a stutter or a minor stroke.

posted by Eideteker 28 August | 19:41

Widely attested as military slang. Somebody doing something so stupid or selfish as to affect others. In the Marines, a trainee, or the dumbest problem Marine in a unit.

posted by stilicho 28 August | 22:20

That makes sense, stilicho. Coach Rhodes USMC browbeat us suburban public high-schoolers like raw recruits, making slurs out of our surnames and accusing us of furtive masturbation while thinking of our female classmates and teachers.

The dude was a pillar of salt.

posted by Hugh Janus 29 August | 07:55

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