“Put that in your pipe and smoke it”

https://wordhistories.net/2020/01/06/put-pipe-and-smoke/

by doat • 5 years ago

106 46 5 years ago

spockz• 5 years ago

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.

TimTheTinker2• 5 years ago

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

colecut• 5 years ago

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

pbhjpbhj• 5 years ago

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.

OJFord• 5 years ago

(From the South West) I agree it can be like that, but I also think the quoted bit is fair - to me it doesn't have to be adversarial 'ha, take that!' it can be more 'eesh, I'm on your side but ugh, what a blow'.

GordonS• 5 years ago

Scotland checking in!

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

mxxx• 5 years ago

Yep same in Australia

rorykoehler2• 5 years ago

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

IggleSniggle• 5 years ago

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.

thaumasiotes6• 5 years ago

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

That's the meaning I'm familiar with in the US. Jonathan Coulton's song Not About You [also American] makes it quite explicit that those two phrases in particular are synonymous.

https://www.jonathancoulton.com/store/

leoc• 5 years ago

"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/

mc32• 5 years ago

Pretty much. Where I grew up it was more or less equivalent to "ain't that a bitch!"

The boss cut our hours and gave them to his cousin! (Now put that in your pipe and smoke it)

shard• 5 years ago

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?".

bigyikes• 5 years ago

Yes, in my mind it has exactly the same meaning as “how do you like them apples?”

When I was a teenager my cousin hit me with a new one that I kind of like: “put that in your juice box and suck on it”

geenew• 5 years ago

I've understood it similarly, as a statement made after introducing a piece of evidence or an arguable assertion. The meaning of the phrase itself being a demand that the listener reconsider their position in light of the newly introduced facts.

Lammy2• 5 years ago

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)"

diogenesjunior• 5 years ago

Based

asdff• 5 years ago

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

Lammy2• 5 years ago

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

rastapasta42• 5 years ago

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.

jackson1442• 5 years ago

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.

RangerScience• 5 years ago

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

franky47• 5 years ago

That's also where I first encountered the expression. IIRC it used a clever pun of using the pipe shell operator | to install Sinatra (put that in your pipe) and a simple hello world code sample (and smoke it).

wunderbaba• 5 years ago

This will never not remind me of Spaceghost Coast to Coast when he interviews Sportscaster Bob Costas. "Put that in your pipe and smoke it! With your burned lips!"

kokanator2• 5 years ago

My mom had a list of these. She used it as, "well ponder that, but it's not going to change.'

She also said:

"go sew buttons on your underwear" - what your doing is just about as useless

"and, if horses were wishes, beggars would ride" - stop wishing and just do it

themodelplumber• 5 years ago

So, did you ever stop wishing and make the usefully-buttoned underwear of your dreams? :-)

kokanator2• 5 years ago

ha! No, but I do remember thinking as a child, "That would be super uncomfortable and maybe even hurt!"

thaumasiotes6• 5 years ago

if horses were wishes, beggars would ride" - stop wishing and just do it

I know the saying, but I just see it as expressing "wishing won't make something happen". No implication that you should, or even could, actually do anything to realize your wish.

thaumasiotes6• 5 years ago

Since this is bothering me when I view my comments, I'll note that the saying actually goes "if wishes were horses...".

bduhan• 5 years ago

My 7th grade math teacher once said “you can factor prime numbers until the angel Gabriel blows his horn at the end of time but it ain’t gonna do you no good!”

She also referred to improper fractions as “big top” or Dolly Parton “because she’s big up top, you know what I mean?”

Yes Mrs. Covington, we did :-)

doyouevensunbro• 5 years ago

Its good to see that letters to the editor haven’t changed much in over 200 years.

jvandonsel• 5 years ago

And let's not forget one of Stephen Sondheim's best lines, from West Side Story:

"I like the island Manhattan.

Smoke on your pipe and put that in!"

“Put that in your pipe and smoke it”

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