Entitled

[steepholm]

Thanks to my flist for beta-testing my "1960s Puffin title generator" a few weeks ago. The finished post is now up at The Awfully Big Blog Adventure - now with a bonus "YA title from around 2000" generator thrown in absolutely free.

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Turn to page 52 of the book nearest to you and find the first transitive verb; add “ing” to it, and then the name of your first pet.

First verb was "open." In context, HORRIFYING.

The next verb got me Pulling Jarabso.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Pulling Jarabso would be an excellent title, at least! (Does "pull" mean "hook up with" in American English too, or is it a British thing?)

[lamentables.livejournal.com]

Hee! The YA 2000 generator gives me Taking Watson which I think may have been mis-shelved.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

That will fly off the shelves!

[lamentables.livejournal.com]

The companion volume (since they were joint first pets) is Plumping Holmes.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I've never been happier to see an 'l' in 'plumping'.

[lamentables.livejournal.com]

That thought will entertain me for the rest of the day.

[owlfish]

There are no verbs on p. 52! Shall try again later. (Given I'm surrounded by very short books, it's amazing the closest one actually has a p. 52.)

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Page 25 is an acceptable substitute.

[sue-bursztynski.livejournal.com]

Yes, I read that post - wonderful, great fun! My two titles were Dreaming Jenna and The Sandcastle Promise.

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

"Presuming Coffee". I wouldn't read it, though it does bring to mind an exchange from Brassed Off - "Do you want to come up for coffee?" "I don't drink coffee." "I haven't got any."

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I doubt it. I've never heard that usage before.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

You had a pet called Coffee?

[houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com]

Heh. I did an Agatha Christie title generator something like that, but I think I already posted it.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

That sounds fun! I think there are quite a few genres could be done that way - thrillers being another example.

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

I haven't either. Is it recent, or of long standing?

Heck, when I was in college "hook up" just meant "meet" -- e.g., a bunch of friends would arrange to hook up at a particular place and time to go for supper.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

The OED isn't always very reliable when it comes to first usage of slang senses, given its reliance on written sources, but according to that it's about 50 years old. (Possibly I misused "hook up"? Obviously, I would say "pull" myself.)

12. trans.

a. Brit. slang. To pick up (a partner), esp. for sexual intercourse; to seduce. Also intr.

1965 Sunday Express 25 July 17/2 As a young man I could never pull (pick up) any birds of my own class.

1973 E. Boyd & R. Parkes Dark Number vi. 69 Five years ago you did the big male-menopause bit, didn't you? Skulking off to Paris to prove you could still pull the birds.

1985 J. Sullivan in Only Fools & Horses: Bible of Peckham iv. 246 Rodney, use your loaf, you're never gonna pull a tart dressed up like Bertie Bassett.

1993 Bella 29 Sept. 40/1 ‘So you're a barman,’ she said with a wicked glint in her eyes. ‘I bet you don't have any trouble pulling.’

The pick-up line, "Grab your coat, you've pulled", is apparently well enough known to have spawned a keyring, God help us.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

The other phrase in common use in the UK is "to get off with". Is that used in America? My guess is not. Then there's "to score", which I think may indeed be transatlantic.

Conversely, I don't think people here would refer (except as a conscious Americanism) to "getting to third base", etc. Actually, I'm not sure what the various bases even refer to, or whether they have standardized meanings. Do they?

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

I think most Americans would be able to figure out "get off with," due to "getting off" having the meaning of orgasming, but it's not in common use. Wikipedia gives one explanation of the bases here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_metaphors_for_sex . I remember having arguments about what the bases stood for -- a lot of people thought kissing shouldn't count (because even parents are generally okay with their kids kissing someone), which left more room for other kinds of fooling around to be detailed. Incidentally, there was a joke going around when I was in college about how the reason lesbians are so good at softball is that they need only get to third base to score.

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

You didn't misuse "hook up" -- it's changed meanings since I was in college, I believe (or else the current usage hadn't yet spread to my dialect).

My God, that keyring is repulsive.

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

Some of them are like French swears -- The Noun of the Noun.

[houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com]

Big fat book series that get made into tv series would be easy enough that we might add a complication.

Game of Thrones
Throne of Giants
Giants of Battle
Battle of Dynasties