“Put that in your pipe and smoke it” • Hacker News Board

Re: “Put that in your pipe and smoke it”

#11

Post by leoc » Fri, May 21, 2021, 9:54 PM UTC

spockz wrote: post #2

> The colloquial phrase put that in your pipe and smoke it and its variants mean accept or put up with what has been said or done, even if it is unwelcome. Interesting. I always gave it a more sinister meaning along the lines of “eat that”. This is definitely more neutral.

"ponder (and put up with!) what has been said or done, even if it is unwelcome" would be a more correct definition. It's basically equivalent to the Americanism "chew on that". It can be pretty neutral or quite hostile, depending on how unhappy you think the listener is going to be with the news.

I'm not sure why this caught HN's interest to be honest, but it's no harm. If you want more, you can read P.W. Joyce: https://archive.org/details/englishaswespeak00joycuoft/

Re: “Put that in your pipe and smoke it”

#12

Post by jackson1442 » Fri, May 21, 2021, 9:58 PM UTC

rastapasta42 wrote: post #9

Lammy wrote: post #3

And these days we describe people as being "based" i.e. "freebased" i.e. "engaging in action or thought without regard to the opinion of others (because you're high on rock cocaine)"

In the past decade the term "based" has been reclaimed by Lil B, and has lost the derogatory connotation. From my experience "based" represents a level-headed, wise individual who can think outside the box.

More recently, the meaning of "based" seems to have shifted to something closer to "completely unapologetic about one's beliefs, even if it seems unpopular." It's usually brought up when someone poses a strawman but it ends up being completely accurate.

Re: “Put that in your pipe and smoke it”

#13

Post by GordonS » Fri, May 21, 2021, 9:59 PM UTC

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #5

spockz wrote: post #2

> The colloquial phrase put that in your pipe and smoke it and its variants mean accept or put up with what has been said or done, even if it is unwelcome. Interesting. I always gave it a more sinister meaning along the lines of “eat that”. This is definitely more neutral.

Where I grew up in England it was the polite version of "well you can just shove it up your arse". Maybe the meaning has moved on because "smoke" as meaning consider has been lost, or perhaps it was a local variation. Just checked with my partner, they're from half the country away from where I'm from and they agree.

Scotland checking in!

I've always understood it the same way. Checked with my partner from half this country away, and she agrees too.

Re: “Put that in your pipe and smoke it”

#14

Post by Lammy » Fri, May 21, 2021, 10:04 PM UTC

asdff wrote: post #8

Lammy wrote: post #3

And these days we describe people as being "based" i.e. "freebased" i.e. "engaging in action or thought without regard to the opinion of others (because you're high on rock cocaine)"

It was lil B who turned that word into a positive term.

Lil B for Lil Boss / Big talk, get your head cracked http://www.lyrics.gy

Re: “Put that in your pipe and smoke it”

#15

Post by mxxx » Fri, May 21, 2021, 10:05 PM UTC

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #5

spockz wrote: post #2

> The colloquial phrase put that in your pipe and smoke it and its variants mean accept or put up with what has been said or done, even if it is unwelcome. Interesting. I always gave it a more sinister meaning along the lines of “eat that”. This is definitely more neutral.

Where I grew up in England it was the polite version of "well you can just shove it up your arse". Maybe the meaning has moved on because "smoke" as meaning consider has been lost, or perhaps it was a local variation. Just checked with my partner, they're from half the country away from where I'm from and they agree.

Yep same in Australia

Re: “Put that in your pipe and smoke it”

#16

Post by shard » Fri, May 21, 2021, 10:11 PM UTC

spockz wrote: post #2

> The colloquial phrase put that in your pipe and smoke it and its variants mean accept or put up with what has been said or done, even if it is unwelcome. Interesting. I always gave it a more sinister meaning along the lines of “eat that”. This is definitely more neutral.

To me, "put that in your pipe and smoke it" has a sense of rubbing in that the listener was incorrect, so it has the same connotation as "eat crow" or "how do you like them apples?".

Re: “Put that in your pipe and smoke it”

#17

Post by rorykoehler » Fri, May 21, 2021, 10:14 PM UTC

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #5

spockz wrote: post #2

> The colloquial phrase put that in your pipe and smoke it and its variants mean accept or put up with what has been said or done, even if it is unwelcome. Interesting. I always gave it a more sinister meaning along the lines of “eat that”. This is definitely more neutral.

Where I grew up in England it was the polite version of "well you can just shove it up your arse". Maybe the meaning has moved on because "smoke" as meaning consider has been lost, or perhaps it was a local variation. Just checked with my partner, they're from half the country away from where I'm from and they agree.

I’m from Ireland and always thought it meant “tough luck, deal with it”

Re: “Put that in your pipe and smoke it”

#18

Post by carschno » Fri, May 21, 2021, 10:14 PM UTC

colecut wrote: post #6

TimTheTinker wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always read it as a poking-fun variant of "booyah!"

Which is of Hebrew origin and shares roots with the African "Boomshakalaka!"

Can you elaborate? I couldn't find anything toegang, but googling this without more information is hard. For starters, what does "African" refer to?

Re: “Put that in your pipe and smoke it”

#19

Post by RangerScience » Fri, May 21, 2021, 10:28 PM UTC

This will always bring up http://sinatrarb.com/ in my mind, now.

Re: “Put that in your pipe and smoke it”

#20

Post by IggleSniggle » Fri, May 21, 2021, 10:35 PM UTC

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #5

spockz wrote: post #2

> The colloquial phrase put that in your pipe and smoke it and its variants mean accept or put up with what has been said or done, even if it is unwelcome. Interesting. I always gave it a more sinister meaning along the lines of “eat that”. This is definitely more neutral.

Where I grew up in England it was the polite version of "well you can just shove it up your arse". Maybe the meaning has moved on because "smoke" as meaning consider has been lost, or perhaps it was a local variation. Just checked with my partner, they're from half the country away from where I'm from and they agree.

Over in Midwest USA, it always meant, usually (but not always) adversarially, “so you can ponder THAT all night, and no matter how much you think about it, will change neither the facts nor the conclusion.”

The only local color I have to add is that it was also somewhat normal to hear “put that in your peace pipe and smoke it” and also “so you can shove that in your peace pipe, and smoke it,” both being references to the custom among some Native North American nations to share a “peace pipe” as a kind of diplomatic gesture, but turned on its head.

This had the effect of me always believing and perceiving it as (usually) especially sarcastic, but largely deriving from the exact meaning that it originates from, even if the cultural reasons were obfuscated.