Chill your tits

Status
Not open for further replies.

indifferent

Junior Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2013
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Polish
Home Country
Poland
Current Location
Poland
What does this idiom mean? Thanks in advance:)
 

bhaisahab

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
Ireland
Where did you find it?
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Tarheel

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
It seems like a joke.

:roll:
 

MikeNewYork

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
I wouldn't call it an "idiom". It most likely is a admonition to a woman to calm down. As phrased, it is rude.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
A high proportion of things found in the Urban Dictionary are at least slightly rude or offensive and care should be taken when using those phrases. In addition, the third word of your phrase is considered a swear word (in BrE) at least and should be asterisked - "t*ts". We would have known what the full word was.
 

MikeNewYork

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
And the asterisk does exactly what? I find that method to be less than effective.
 

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
Asterisks are useful for those of us who don't like typing or reading offensive words in full.

What does this idiom mean?

Thanks in advance. [STRIKE]:)[/STRIKE] Please don't use a smiley in place of a punctuation mark. If you want to insert an emoticon, use the :-D icon. In any case, there's no need to thank us in advance. Just click the 'Thank' button when you get a useful reply.

I'm still waiting to hear in what context the OP heard or read this expression. It couldn't have been in the Urban Dictionary, or he/she wouldn't have needed to ask us what it meant.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
It's standard in BrE, certainly when minors might be reading content. It works for all the various swear words - replace one vowel with an asterisk. Most adults will realise that the asterisk is a clue to it being a swear word and it's then easy to work out which word it is. It might not be a perfect method but I'm sure none of wants to see swearing on a site used by under-18s.
 

MikeNewYork

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
But almost everybody knows the word, so what is the point?
 

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
It makes me feel better about myself. Call me a prude if you want.
 

Raymott

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Australia
Current Location
Australia
I'd want to know whether it meant 'tats', or tots' - never having heard the phrase before. Even "Show us your t*ts!" could be a request to see a man's tattoos.
 

TheParser

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2009
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Indifferent:

I think that you now understand what the phrase means.

Of course, you should NEVER, EVER say this to a female colleague. If you did, it could possibly destroy your career.

*****

According to Wikipedia, the T-word is one of seven words that are generally avoided on American over-the-air television. (Cable television has more latitude.)

The Wikipedia article says that American law regarding those seven words is somewhat vague. They are not explicitly banned, but it seems to depend on the time of the broadcast (are innocent little children asleep?) and the general context.

Nevertheless, there is a lot of self-censorship. Most broadcasters, of course, do not want unnecessary legal problems.

Especially today, the use of the T-word would offend many female viewers and might result in complaints to the relevant governmental agency.

Yesterday I was one of the first members to see that thread. But when I read the title, I was too cowardly to answer -- fearing that the answer would not be allowed.

I am pretty sure that most young Americans in 2014 find it amusing that such a little word can still stir up such controversy.



James
 
Last edited:

indifferent

Junior Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2013
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Polish
Home Country
Poland
Current Location
Poland
Thanks everyone for your help. It was my birthday yesterday and my children gave me a t-shirt with such an inscription:-D I'm sure they didn,t do it out of spite...
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
What a bizarre present to receive from one's children!
 

indifferent

Junior Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2013
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Polish
Home Country
Poland
Current Location
Poland
I'm Polish. My kids are quite young and cannot speak English. They simply wanted to buy me a gift that is in line with my interests:-D I mean learning languages of course:lol:
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
It'll be fun explaining to them when they're older exactly what they bought you! I assume they are too young to have gone into the shop and bought it with their own money - presumably another adult was involved. Does that adult speak English?
 

MikeNewYork

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
My mother would have smacked me.
 

indifferent

Junior Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2013
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Polish
Home Country
Poland
Current Location
Poland
It'll be fun explaining to them when they're older exactly what they bought you! I assume they are too young to have gone into the shop and bought it with their own money - presumably another adult was involved. Does that adult speak English?

Their grandma helped them buy it. Although she doesn't speak English, she could have done it intentionally indeed.:-D Mothers-in-low are sometimes able to such deeds.;-) However, seriously speaking, I think the shop assistant should have told them that the meaning of the description is insulting. Perhaps she didn't know what she was selling, either?
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
It sounds to me like no-one knew what they were selling or buying!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top