4 ms·
Wondered about "rap" in this context: From Collins dictionary of British English """ Rap: 2 (verb) in the sense of reprimand Definition to rebuke or critici
by kbutler 4y ago
Wondered about "rap" in this context:
From Collins dictionary of British English
"""
Rap: 2 (verb) in the sense of reprimand
Definition
to rebuke or criticize sharply
"""
Other interpretations would have been too good to be true.
- ip_addr 4y agoF the police?
- twic 4y agoHelp the Police! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZyqwOOmETI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZyqwOOmETI
- bheadmaster 4y agoHelp the Police, coming straight from the downtown! Young cop eating donuts, so he's round.
- jaclaz 4y agoYep, I expected a link to a TikTok or Youtube video with the officers singing and dancing ...
- badcppdev 4y agoI feel "The Register" specialises in headlines that can be parsed in more than one way.
- pjdesno 4y agoThey hold to the best traditions of British tabloid journalism. My favorite is Every! Single! Headline! About! Yahoo!
- a4isms 4y agoUS-flavoured English has this type of "rap" as well, as in Raganwald faced the rap for making too many reddit-esque puns on Hacker News. The mods reviewed his rap sheet and determined that permanent expulsion was warranted for this transgression. I believe both descend from "rap" as a form of rebuke, in one case synonymous with criticism, in the other synonymous with a conviction in a court of law.
- OJFord 4y agoThe rebuke sense is surely is figurative from physical rap ('rap on the knuckes', 'rapping on the door'), via 'take the rap' etc.
- a4isms 4y agoI agree that they are derived from the physical "rap." I am curious about is the origin of 'rap' as an informal discussion: I want to rap to you today—lyric spoken by Maurice White of "Earth, Wind, and Fire." I believe that's the origin of the noun Rap as a music genre, which is now mostly known as Hip-Hop.
- pessimizer 4y agoIt's probably from the "rap on the door" sense, carrying the metaphor of visiting someone to talk. "Calling" on someone is a (somewhat anachronistic) similar idea. I'm pretty sure it's jazz talk, so I'd look at urban black culture of the early 20c. Could have ended up being knock music or call music? edit: your "rap" is (usually) how you talk to women, and going "calling" was once the same sort of euphemism.
- OJFord 4y ago> "Calling" on someone is a (somewhat anachronistic) Way to make us feel old! I was at school when children started to have phones, through to MSN and early smart phones, but 'calling on' people was at least the bridge between that and RL interaction. (I'm sure we texted things like 'call on you later'.) Is it not still? Whatever the technology isn't there a need for that? Obviously language can fade independently of technology, but it was quite funny to note some of the same weird school playground phrases familiar to both me and my father at the same school(s) 30y apart.
- gadders 4y agoIt's one of those words that only gets used in headlines to save space. See also "slams".
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]