dated slang, yes. But rather amazing nonetheless. In a culture that worships braggadocio we have a threat using understatement. I'll 'pop' not explode, boom or some other word denoting a huge sound and much force we have an understated metaphor describing a not so loud sound and alluding also to toy (pop) guns. A 'cap' not a bullet, slug, missile, bomb or other literal or hyperbolic synonym or metaphor but again a reference to a child's toy. Irony intended or not, it is rather wonderful and not quite what I would have expected. Then the finish. in your 'ass'. Not heart, head etc. Ass. Even though this threat is at least sometimes a death threat, or was, 'ass' is the term. A synechdoche, in a way. But since a bullet must enter only one part of the body, arguably one cannot simply shoot 'you'. But still the 'ass' is being used to represent the whole of the person and so it is a kind of synecdoche. Since one has a decent chance of surviving a shot to the ass the threat is again at least in some cases an understatement. It is also a shaming choice. I could shoot you anywhere, but I will since mark you and hurt you, pehaps with a hint of 'branding' as in cattle and property. I will thus, own you. OK. You think I stretch and you hate that phrase and the culture of violence around it. But perhaps if you set that aside you can appreciate the economy and richness of what at first seems something else.
From UrbanDictionary.com: I'd have to see this a few more times before I believe it. It's a little too logical for street slang. How many gangstas have enough IQ and education to actually understand how a gun works? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! As for "your ass," that goes back a long way. We were saying it when I was a kid in the 1950s. It's just a rude way of referring to a person's physical body. "Get your ass out of bed!" "I don't ever want to see your ass in my house again!" "Why wasn't your ass in school today?" "I'm gonna throw your ass in the county joint!" -- Sammy Hagar, "I Can't Drive 55" I had a teacher who cleaned it up and said things like, "Get your pants in here right now!"
* * * * MODERATOR EDIT * * * * Gustav: sorry, I can't allow you to advocate anyone's assassination. As an American citizen it would make me guilty of treason. And since by inaction I would be collaborating with you, it would also make me guilty of conspiracy, which is much easier to prosecute. If you'd like to re-post this and change the language to make it more clearly a joke or an object of scholarship, please do so. Sorry, --F.R.
And of course 'kick your ass' when the ensuing fight might only involve fists and no blows to the ass.
Good point. That could very well be part of the implications. But again, ass, not back. Would they really aim for the generally smaller ass, rather than the more vital and larger back? It is still non-literal language use.
Fraggle, This also doesn't quite fit with the wording. I will pop it 'in your ass.' Unless - and I am not ruling it out, out of hand - this means first I shove the gun up your asshole and then I fire it, the 'in' does not work. Though I suppose is floppy as a threat. Nevertheless I remain unconvinced and will stick with my interpretation. One thing in favor of the 'fires the gun after penetrating the ass with the gun' interpretation is all the sexual dominance implied by this. edit: fraggle, I just realized another problem with the urban dictionaries explanation: I don't see 'pop' as literal. Ignite, detonate, impact with, sure. But 'pop'. Is the explosive cap actually pierced? As far as I can tell the primer cap is not pierced so it is not popped. I had to do a rather serious bit of searching to find this out, finally finding an image of a spent bullet with a dimple in its firing cap BUT NO HOLE, which the text said, was nonetheless proof the round had been fired. So pop is a metaphor of some kind at the very least and is not, despite the urban dictionary's assertion, being used literally.
When I was a kid we had pop guns. A captive cork, tied to the gun with a length of string, was inserted into the barrel. When the trigger was pulled the cork "popped" out and went pop in the process.
Hm. "I'll pop a cap in your ass" could to me mean also to put a cap (as in 'bottle cap') into someone's arse in order to seal the hole so that the person couldn't defecate, which would make the person feel very uncomfortable, but more importantly also unable to poop on someone else's parade (I realize I mixed two idioms here). In this sense, "I'll pop a cap in your ass" could be a somewhat meaner way of saying "I'll shut you up". Shooting someone usually comes with the intention to shut them up, does it not? TYVM, this has been my poopy contribution for the day. :bugeye: Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Kicking somebody in the ass is not an unreasonable way to conclude a fight. You've got him immobilized, he's turned around so he can't fight back, and you're going to kick him, which is dirty fighting at least by the traditional MoQ rules. I have always perceived an ass-kicking to be far more humliating than a more or less gentlemanly defeat in a fair fight.
pop a kap in your ass anal intercourse with someone who has aids kap as is kaposi's sarcoma ------------------- pardon, frag
Again, note that bust is like pop. When in fact the cap does not have to be penetrated. The cap is only part of the bullet - synecdoche. It ignites the main 'fuel' after being struck. I am not sure if they are referring to a toy or not. They are, however, using figures of speech.
yes, I had these too. In fact I spent a weekend killing flies with one of these. It was a perfect fly killing weapon. Unfortunately it left crushed fly everywhere and I got in trouble. I did wonder if pop guns was the reference.
we had the kind that had a red paper roll of little pockets of gunpowder (I think). We just unrolled it and smashed it with a rock.
Not that I disagree, per se, but if we undouble the negatives it sounds odd. As if it was a ritual gesture. Unfortunately nowadays it is far more likely to be kicks to the head and torso but several attackers. I'll take an ass-kicking over that any time. In fact if I get to choose anywhere on my body to receive a kick, it would be my ass.
