01 Nov

candy-ass

Who taught: Jessy

Candy-ass (source: www.flickr.com)

Yesterday was Oct 31st, 2010. It was Halloween. Based on what I felt, starting from Halloween, the whole U.S. gets into the long holiday mode. They decorate houses with pumpkins and scary toys for Halloween and, in November, it turns into the Thanksgiving mode. Finally, there is a Christmas in December. Christmas decoration is the best. You should really try to be in the U.S. and see them. It is amazing.

Along with the decorations, there are certain things happening on Halloween day, such as trick-or-treating, wearing costumes, and parties. Jessy and I did not wear costumes or trick-or-treat. But, we decided to go to a haunted house with Alex and Sangeetha for the first time in our lives. It was fun and kind of scary. Jessy decided to be the last one in our group. Bad choice! (She also admitted it.) All of the scary characters in the house were following us but, since she was the last one, they basically followed her. 🙂 So, if you ever go to a hunted house, try not to be the last one in your group!

Speaking of scary stuff, there is an expression I learned from Jessy. Do you know what sissy means? Last winter, when I went snowboarding, there was a friend of James who was with me. He was trying to follow me to do a big air which basically jumps over a huge jump area and flies like 10 – 20 yards. (Yes, that is what I do with my snowboard.) It really requires the guts to be able to do it. By the time we got to the starting point, he said, “Oh man! I do not think I can do it. You go ahead. I think I will be sissy this time.” Now, you can get the feeling of the word, right? It means a pejorative for a boy or man to indicate that he fails to behave according to the traditional male gender role. The expression I want to tell you today, though, is a different one. It is candy-ass. It is the same meaning to sissy. But, I like candy-ass one more. I think it is not a word or expression you would use a lot. But, try to find the proper time when you are with your male friends and use it. It will be fun. Every time you, as a non-native English speaker, use this kind of expressions to your American friends, they will be so impressed. Am I right, my American friends?

5 thoughts on “candy-ass

  1. Haha, yeah, “wimp” and “wimpy” are similar. I don’t like “sissy” (related to “sister”) because it’s basically kind of sexist or homophobic (your description of it is good). I guess candy-ass may not have those connotations. If an English-learner used it, I’d be pretty surprised. However, it’s something to be careful with–first, it’s rude (because of “ass”), and second, it can be pretty insulting. So if you use it with someone who isn’t your very good friend, that person might get really angry.

    The quotes using it here are pretty funny and wildly different from each other: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/candy-ass

    I probably use “wimp” (n.), “wimpy” (adj.), and “wimp out” (v.) most often.

    Keep up the good posts!

  2. Pingback: Tweets that mention candy-ass | Learning English from Friends (LEfF) -- Topsy.com

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