Being from America, our profanity consists of (I’ll keep it clean here) shoot, darn, crud, and, well I guess there is no clean version of the “F” word (freak?).
But recently on Twitter, mostly in relation to the British show X Factor, I’ve been seeing a lot of the word “Sod.” Now, I’m sorry if you’re now offended, but me being someone whose life revolves around tennis, I merely though the Brits were referring to Soderling.
No?
So I consulted Wikipedia. Sod, in British English, is a mildly offensive, pejorative term for a person. It has many uses, but particularly implies idleness (as in “lazy sod”). As a mild insult, it can be used affectionately between friends (“How are you, you old sod?”). It can generally be applied to refer to a person in a most basic sense and frequently preceded by a modifying adjective (“That crazy sod almost ran me over!”). Such uses as “Sod it!” and “Sod this” are often exclamations of frustration.
So even after looking up “Sod,” you can imagine why I still thought this referred to Soderling. The main reason? Come tomorrow, Soderling will overtake Andy Murray (you know, that British guy) as the ATP World Tour number 4-ranked player.
Come next week at the ATP WTFs, Murray and Soderling will most likely meet. Their head-to-head is tied at 2-2, but the last two meetings have gone in favor of Soderling.
So, will Andy be a lazy sod? Will Robin sod it? Or will Roger or Rafa sod it up like usual?
Oh, Bugger.
You didn’t know the word ’sod’? Mind blown. Remember a year or so ago when we didn’t have to feel quite as guilty about being mean about Soderling? You missed all the fun.
I didn’t know “sod” like this either, and so I sympathize. Agreed with Hello! above that it’s more difficult to harp on the guy now. He’s largely cleaned up his act and gone classy. Looks like even a sod can reinvent himself.
Actually, “sod” has become only mildly offensive now, but it started as much more vulgar, seeing it derives from “sodomite”.
“Bugger” means exactly the same.
Sod isn’t a common word used in America..neither is Soderling.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by The Slice, The Slice. The Slice said: Reflections: Sod(erling) it. Robin will overtake Murray as @atpworldtour’s no. 4 ranked player http://bit.ly/aizVax #tennis [...]