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> People were picking up words we had made up, like “regifting” and “shrinkage.” They really believe made up the word "shrinkage"? Or is this some in-joke?
by supermatt 4y ago
> People were picking up words we had made up, like “regifting” and “shrinkage.”
They really believe made up the word "shrinkage"? Or is this some in-joke?
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- lqet 4y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85MZ4c1EWkM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85MZ4c1EWkM
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- manholio 4y agoIt's a specific meaning relating to the size of male genitalia after immersion in low temperature water. "There's significant shrinkage, my friend".
- shafyy 4y agoExactly. Pretty certain he doesn't mean that he invented the word per se, but the usage of the word for a certain situation.
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- wodenokoto 4y agoI was about to defend Jerry and say "Well, maybe someone added the suffix to shrink before him, but he made it a thing", but after looking at Google Ngram Viewer, then yes, he is way off. Usage of the word shrinkage topped in the 1930's and has been in steady decline during the Seinfeld years. https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=shrinkage&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=3&case_insensitive=true https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=shrinkage&year... Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/6Esimrk https://imgur.com/a/6Esimrk
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- imron 4y agoI guarantee you the shrinkage talked about in books from 1930-1993 is not the same shrinkage. This is obvious if you click through to any of the results from the link you provided above.
- cromka 4y agoIt's not the word itself, which is grammatically correct word for, well, shrinkage, but the context in which it applies. Words do evolve together with their newly-acquired context, and Seinfeld can be attributed to have helped with some. Your comment likely means that you actually don't really understand what is the shrinkage we talk about here ;)
- supermatt 4y agoThe already existing definition of shrinkage applies to anything that shrinks - including a penis. i.e. its not a new context. How about "regifting" what context does he use there instead of the preexisting definition of gifting a gift you have received? The existing definition would apply for ALL gifts - including penises (or whetever context thats about).
- opium_tea 4y agoI'm not sure anyone is claiming Seinfeld invented the words but he presented them in newly humorous contexts that become widely used. Shrinkage became a word used in a comical attempt to quash rumours of small penis size as well as to describe what happens when men swim in cold water. In the time when Seinfeld was popular then the word shrinkage used in a certain way would have been understood in these contexts and wouldn't have resulted in a HN-style overly literal interpretation and the question "what shrunk?". (speaking of overly-literal interpretations I feel the need to clarify that i'm referring to people who were vaguely up to date with popular culture). Regifting isn't a literal description of giving a gift you received to another person. After Seinfeld's use it became a humorous euphemism for cheapness and tactlessness.
- randycupertino 4y agoanti-dentite
- hurtuvac78 4y ago"double-dipping" too
- paganel 4y agoI think "serenity now!" has had a much longer life than “regifting” and “shrinkage", I know I use it quite often. And, of course, the Festivus.
- astura 4y agoThey invented a new definition of "shrinkage", in reference, specifically, to a penis retracting into the body when exposed to cold water thus making it appear smaller than it normally is. They obviously didn't invent the verb, and I don't think they believe they did, it's a common word in finance. Before Seinfeld nobody would know what you're talking about if you said you were experiencing shrinkage. It's a way to talk about genitalia without being explicit.