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Saucy

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January 28, 2005, 14:39
Caterwauller
Saucy
How did the term saucy come to mean flirtatious? Here is what onelook.com gives me:


adjective: characterized by a lightly pert and exuberant quality
adjective: improperly forward or bold


*******
"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.
~Dalai Lama
January 28, 2005, 19:08
Kalleh
According to etymology.com it comes from "sauce," with the connecting notion being "piquancy in words or actions."
January 28, 2005, 19:40
Caterwauller
ooh - I like that - piquant . . . hmm
February 24, 2005, 17:21
Doad
The term dates back a long way, certainly to 1530 when it meant that you were 'insolent towards superiors' (I like that). It had become associated with a wanton and lascivious nature by 1603, especially in relation to 'arousing sexual desire' (nice!). From what I can gather however, it does indeed seem to stem from the nature of the sauce that it was originally meant to describe.
February 24, 2005, 17:48
Cat
Welcome, Doad! Good to see you on board and posting! Smile
February 24, 2005, 17:56
Caterwauller
Yes, Doad - it's great to have you here!

I love the "insolent towards superiors" bit - I guess I never thought of folks in 1530 being like that! I guess "everything old is new again," eh?


*******
"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.
~Dalai Lama
February 24, 2005, 19:30
Kalleh
So great to see you here, Doad! Smile Big Grin Wink Cool
And another Brit besides!

That is interesting that the original meaning was insolence towards superiors. I wonder how it evolved to being associated with wanton and lascivious behavior.
February 24, 2005, 22:02
neveu
quote:
I wonder how it evolved to being associated with wanton and lascivious behavior.

Same way salsa became associated with wanton and lascivious dancing? There's just something cross-culturally sexy about liquid dressings or toppings for food.
February 25, 2005, 04:32
Caterwauller
Hmm - I think you might be onto something there, neveu. Might be interesting to do a little study of the importance of liquids in sensual imagery. What other "topping" or "dressing" words have this sort of double meaning?

Where are our multi-linguists??


*******
"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.
~Dalai Lama
February 25, 2005, 16:49
tinman
Well, there's always whipped cream ...

Tinman
February 25, 2005, 17:10
jerry thomas
..... crushed nuts ??
February 26, 2005, 04:47
Doad
Whipped cream sounds like fun but crushed nuts!!!!!!!
February 26, 2005, 05:11
Caterwauller
My thoughts, exactly, Doad . . .

and if you ask me, that whipped cream could use a smidge of nice warm chocolate . . .


*******
"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.
~Dalai Lama
February 26, 2005, 05:48
Doad
And so we're back to sauce again!
February 26, 2005, 06:42
<Asa Lovejoy>
Yet, "on the sauce" implies drunkenness.

Welcome, Doad, from the unofficial board curmudgeon.
February 26, 2005, 12:09
Caterwauller
Well . . . people who are "on the sauce" tend to be more likely to get saucy, don't you think?


*******
"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.
~Dalai Lama
February 26, 2005, 17:05
<wordnerd>
Did we discuss somewhere, long ago, the question of whether sauce rhymes with paws in Brit-speak?

Over here we end the one with an s-sound, and the other with a z-sound: saus (sort of like 'moss'); pawz (like 'gauze'). If you Brits use the same ending-sound in each, is it the s or the z that you use?

And if (as I assume) you use the z sound, and pronounce 'sauce' as sauz, then do follow the same pattern and pronounce 'saucy' as sauzee? Or do you convert the latter back to sausee?
February 26, 2005, 17:39
Cat
Sauce has a soft 's' and rhymes with gorse or morse (of course!... Sorry Roll Eyes). Moss has a short, rather than a long 'o' over here, so the two wouldn't rhyme.

Paws and gauze are the same here too.

Incidentally, doesn't gorse smell lovely when you're walking along the clifftops in the summer?