Doom on you.

[tufguy]

What does "Doom on you" mean?

I heard it in the movie "Ice age".

What does it mean? I tried getting the meaning from the internet but I am confused. It says "Doom (someone or something) to something. What does "Doom (someone or something) to something" mean?

Can it only be used for a person or for an object as well?

 

[PeterCW]

It isn't an expression that I have ever heard in BrE. The Urban Dictionary gives it as a euphemism for a phrase that forum rules would forbid.

 

[Tdol]

What does "Doom (someone or something) to something" mean?

Can it only be used for a person or for an object as well?

It means you make it inevitable that something bad will happen.

The Coronavirus has doomed many people to losing their jobs.

 

[tufguy]

It means you make it inevitable that something bad will happen.

The Coronavirus has doomed many people to losing their jobs.

You have doomed us to die by setting us up.


Can I say "Doom on China"? Is it correct?

 

[Skrej]

If you wish for something bad to happen to China, then I suppose so.

Honestly though, I've only heard the expression used in a somewhat sarcastic or humorous sense. It's just too melodramatic to be taken (or used) very seriously. It's almost a stereotype - something you might expect to hear a preacher use in a fire and brimstone sermon.

Is this the clip you're referring to? There's a certain sense of humorous irony here, because the bird speaking is a dodo, which became extinct. Of course he's talking to several other soon-to-be extinct species (woolly mammoth and ground sloth), so it's like humorous foreshadowing.

Note that he says "If you didn't save enough food, than doom on you." That's the more typical use: "If X , then doom on Y". Still, it's almost hyperbole.


The other use I'm familiar with stems from the military and the Vietnam war era. It's an anglicized corruption of a particular Vietnamese phrase which sounds like 'doom on you' in English. You can probably research it yourself on the internet, but it's crude enough to probably merit avoiding on this forum.

 

[tufguy]

If you wish for something bad to happen to China, then I suppose so.

Honestly though, I've only heard the expression used in a somewhat sarcastic or humorous sense. It's just too melodramatic to be taken (or used) very seriously. It's almost a stereotype - something you might expect to hear a preacher use in a fire and brimstone sermon.

Is this the clip you're referring to? There's a certain sense of humorous irony here, because the bird speaking is a dodo, which became extinct. Of course he's talking to several other soon-to-be extinct species (woolly mammoth and ground sloth), so it's like humorous foreshadowing.

Note that he says "If you didn't save enough food, than doom on you." That's the more typical use: "If X , then doom on Y". Still, it's almost hyperbole.


The other use I'm familiar with stems from the military and the Vietnam war era. It's an anglicized corruption of a particular Vietnamese phrase which sounds like 'doom on you' in English. You can probably research it yourself on the internet, but it's crude enough to probably merit avoiding on this forum.

Okay, I am confused. You were saying "Doom on you" means "you have made something bad inevitable" but you are also saying "Doom on China" means I want something bad happens to China". I am more confused now. Please help.

 

[Skrej]

Tdol's definition (regarding inevitability) means that the actions performed have made it inevitable that something bad will happen. I'm offering another definition, in which the expression means you're wishing something bad to happen to someone - almost like a curse or hex. They're not contradictory, just different usages. They're all negative.

Have you checked a dictionary for 'doom'? Tdol's usage is verb definition 2a and 2b. My usage is verb definition 1.

"Doom on China" means you want the entire nation of China to suffer misery, death, and misfortune.
"China has doomed itself" would mean that China has created its own misfortune through its own actions.
"China is doomed" simply means that China is about to experience a catastrophe. The source or reason isn't specified.

 

[Rover_KE]

Can it only be used for a person or for an object as well?

I suppose you could say it to your car if it won't start, but I doubt it will have any effect.

 

[Skrej]

I suppose you could say it to your car if it won't start, but I doubt it will have any effect.

I'd probably be using that Vietnamese version when cussing out my car. I like to think that anthropomorphizing things makes them suffer my wrath more.

 

[tufguy]

If you wish for something bad to happen to China, then I suppose so.

Honestly though, I've only heard the expression used in a somewhat sarcastic or humorous sense. It's just too melodramatic to be taken (or used) very seriously. It's almost a stereotype - something you might expect to hear a preacher use in a fire and brimstone sermon.

Is this the clip you're referring to? There's a certain sense of humorous irony here, because the bird speaking is a dodo, which became extinct. Of course he's talking to several other soon-to-be extinct species (woolly mammoth and ground sloth), so it's like humorous foreshadowing.

Note that he says "If you didn't save enough food, than doom on you." That's the more typical use: "If X , then doom on Y". Still, it's almost hyperbole.


The other use I'm familiar with stems from the military and the Vietnam war era. It's an anglicized corruption of a particular Vietnamese phrase which sounds like 'doom on you' in English. You can probably research it yourself on the internet, but it's crude enough to probably merit avoiding on this forum.

How about this?

You have doomed us to die by setting us up.

 

[Tdol]

Okay, I am confused. You were saying "Doom on you" means "you have made something bad inevitable"

I did not. I was referring to the definition and the question you asked about that. I would not use doom on.

 

[Skrej]

How about this?

You have doomed us to die by setting us up.

It's grammatical, but not particularly natural. It sounds like a bad plot reveal in a b-grade murder mystery.

You need to understand that this is not a widely used expression - it's just too melodramatic. I suggest you move away from trying to incorporate this into daily conversation. You're probably doomed to fail.

The whole reason they use it in Ice Age is for the comedic effect, as I previously noted. It's funny because it's so melodramatic and cheesy, not to mention ironic (coming from an extinct species).

 

[Rover_KE]

Agreed, It's not a common expression, tufguy.

Forget it.

Thread closed.