[Vocabulary] old slang : fan

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Hi,

I hear "fan" and "fans" in almost every lines of Kirk Douglas playing Charles Tatum
talking to his office colleagues in Ace in the Hole.
(1951 - directed by Billy Wilder for Paramount Pictures)

"Look, fan, ask him..."
"I'm stuck for good, fans!"

Fan here means "folks", "amateurs", "mate", "kid" ?
When it is said by Kirk Douglas, sometimes we hear "Faaaaan"

Thank you.
 

Tarheel

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There is no such thing as old slang.

Often context will tell you everything you need to know. (That might also be all you have to go on.)

Your guess is as good as mine.

You're welcome.

:hi:
 

Tdol

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I haven't seen the movie but your quotes suggest it is being used the way people use the word man.

I will try to get a clip working, but I am in a very narrowband world at the moment and video it difficult.
 

Raymott

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There is no such thing as old slang.
Why not? Wouldn't it mean words that were once slang but which are no longer used?
 

Mrfatso

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Why not? Wouldn't it mean words that were once slang but which are no longer used?
There are also words that would once have been considered slang but are now part of common parlance.
 
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Why not? Wouldn't it mean words that were once slang but which are no longer used?


Exactly Ray. Why not?
My question refers to a review of this movie on DVDizzy. I quote :
[...] and English subtitles are there should you need them. (Confession: I had to consult them to discover that Tatum calls people "fan"; that slang usage was new to me.)

Unfortunately, the article does not explain it. English subtitles either. I send a message on their facebook page, but I'm not sure they will reply me.
 

Mrfatso

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I haven't seen the movie but your quotes suggest it is being used the way people use the word man.

I will try to get a clip working, but I am in a very narrowband world at the moment and video it difficult.

I cannot find a clip, but IMDB includes this exchange as dialogue.
"
Herbie Cook: [Looking at the unstable cliff-dwelling] I don't like the looks of it, Chuck.
Charles Tatum: Neither do I, fan, but I like the odds."

I think you are could be correct as to the usage.

 

Tarheel

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Why not? Wouldn't it mean words that were once slang but which are no longer used?

Well, maybe there's a word for that, but "old slang" seems to be a contradiction in terns.
:cool:
 

Tdol

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Call it dated, then. I would say that this use of fan is dated- I've never heard it.
 

Tdol

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I cannot find a clip, but IMDB includes this exchange as dialogue.
"
Herbie Cook: [Looking at the unstable cliff-dwelling] I don't like the looks of it, Chuck.
Charles Tatum: Neither do I, fan, but I like the odds."

I think you are could be correct as to the usage.


That sounds like an all-purpose variation on man to me. This thread is the first time I have come across the usage, though.
 

Tarheel

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I believe a contradiction in terns is a flock of sea birds.
;-)
 

Mrfatso

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That sounds like an all-purpose variation on man to me. This thread is the first time I have come across the usage, though.

Rather than slang, perhaps it is better to describe this as an affectation of the character in question.
 

Tdol

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Good point, Mrfatso.
 

probus

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Odds bodkins indeed, with apologies to whomever I stole this reply from.
 

probus

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Well, maybe there's a word for that, but "old slang" seems to be a contradiction in terns.
:cool:

Not at all. Please refer to our old Iceberg Slim threads. Outdated slang is a translator's nightmare, even for a translator from English to English, a phenomenon that I have previously documented.
 

Charlie Bernstein

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Fan is short for fanatic. A fan is a follower, an enthusiast, a supporter.

Slang does go out of fashion, but fan is not slang.
 

pwilling

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Hi -- I just joined, so I don't know my way around well. I am interested in idioms, or slang; particularly in origins of same. Many slang terms, or idioms, get embedded in the language so securely that everybody knows what they mean but hardly anyone can explain their origins. I notice in the dictionary that many posts do not refer to origins. Is there any way to offer supplemental information about an existing post?

Thanks

Peter
 

JMurray

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