AboutTed Nesbitt Expertise I have an interest in the meanings of words and phrases, as well as how and when they became part of the English language. I enjoy
researching idioms, colloquialisms, dialects, and obscurities of
all kinds. I prefer short questions on a particular subject, and
I will not accept lengthy research projects or term papers. NOTE: ALLEXPERTS CLAIMS THAT I TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LATIN AND FROM LATIN TO ENGLISH. I DO NOT. ALLEXPERTS REFUSES TO DELETE THE LATIN-TO-ENGLISH SERVICE -- ONE THAT I DO NOT PROVIDE.
TRUST ME ON THIS: ALLEXPERTS IS WRONG. I DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LANGUAGE. LOOK FOR A LANGUAGE EXPERT INSTEAD. ETYMOLOGY AND TRANSLATING SERVICES ARE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. ALLEXPERTS SHOULD KNOW THAT. ALLEXPERTS DOES NOT KNOW THAT. I HAVE TRIED FOR MANY YEARS TO GET THEM TO CHANGE. THEY WILL NOT. SORRY, BUT I DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LATIN.
Experience I am the bibliographic instruction and reference librarian at a public
college. My master's thesis concerns William Faulkner's tragic novels. I formerly taught advanced placement English at two schools in the Philadelphia area.
I have been a member of the grammar and writing section of Allexperts
for more than a year.
Education/Credentials Masters degrees in English, philosophy, and library science.
Question Ted, Although the site says you're available, the instructions say you're not taking questions. On the off chance that you're willing to point me in the right direction, I'm writing anyway. I'm trying to find out when the expression "bite me" first came into usage as an American slang, and of course, if it is indeed restricted to American English, or if it is used likewise in other English speaking countries. I have a sense of what it means, but the origin would be great, too. If you can't answer, it would be great if you could at least tell me where to look. Thanks. Vicki
Answer OK -- I have checked more than 20 slang, jargon, and dialect dictionaries. The phrase is mid-20th century, but Beavis and Butthead popularized it.
Here are the entries from the two most significant dictionaries:
"The Random House Dictionary of American Slang," vol. 2-- 1994
The original phrase was "bite it!" The meaning, and I quote from the dictionary, is "go to hell" "fuck you!" -- "usually considered vulgar.
It first appeared in PRINT in 1948, in Cozzens' "Guard of Honor," in reference to World War II -- "Bite it!" Sergeant Pellerino said amiably.
In 1949, Ross McDonald, the mystery writer, changed it somewhat to "Why don't you take a bite of me?" That was in his novel, "Moving Target."
Other variations -- pardon me, but they ARE from the dictionary -- bite the rag; bite my butt; bite me in the ass; take a bite of this [in National Lampoon, 1971, while he was holding his penis]; bite my bag -- and others.
About "eat it," which is another version, a little more crude than "bite it."
"NTC's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions," 3rd edition, 2000.
This dictionary gives the generic form as "eat it," with bite me as a mild variation . There are numerous examples, which I won't repeat. Under
"Eat me!", the dictionary lists it as a "transitive verb." It's definition is "an expression meaning roughly 'suck my genitals.' (Usually objectionable.) "Eat it, you creep."
One of my colleagues HAS the B&B key ring pictured at this site:
<http://www.wickedcoolstuff.com/bebutake.html>
He says that one of the six phrases is "Bite me, dude."
Sorry this has taken so long, but I wanted to be thorough and I was interrupted many times during the five hours I worked on your question.
