From: Michael M. Butler (mmb@spies.com)
Date: Sun Feb 02 2003 - 22:41:00 MST
Damien Broderick wrote:
> Michael M. Butler stared into the mirror, twirled his pistol, and growled:
>
>
>>Who you callin' a "buff"?
>
>
> I thought it was synonymous with "expert enthusiast". Am I wrong? Let's
> Google up:
>
> http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=buff*3+0
>
> buff (PERSON)
> noun [C]
> INFORMAL
> a person who knows a lot about and is very interested in a particular
> subject
>
> Damien Broderick
> [or maybe I'm missing the/a/some joke]
>
Surely, that's the Cambridge dictionary meaning. And I knew that was
probably all you meant. But just to let you know about another way
in which we are "divided by a common language", the following:
There's a strong connotation in some circles here for the word; in these,
a "buff" is a pathetic impersonator or dangerous quasi-stalker/rapist.
CHP/LAPD, for instance, and I'd expect many other police departments,
too, call people who dress up as cops and/or try to pass themselves off
as same (at least in a rich fantasy life involving mirrors, a gay bar,
or what have you) "buffs", short for "cop buffs". It's not a compliment.
It's like a _sick_ wannabe.
The deeper assumption even about those who don't play dress-up is that
there's something a little, maybe a lot, wrong with anybody who knows
too much about the way the system works, or that at best they are arrogant
know-it-alls who need special handling. And the word does sound harmless
when overheard--you have to look for the eye-rolls.
I even got the hairy eyeball and a bt of quizzing once just for knowing
what a property room was, while making a statement about a theft to local
cops in Minneapolis. My knowledge seemed out of place and too-well-informed.
I'm a _civilian_, what am I doing spouting cop talk? Am I some kind of
jaihouse graduate, or a buff, or what?
Granted, some of that is probably just part of general ingroup/outgroup
dynamics, just the way lots of people in the medical profession have
distaste for "activated patients".
So what I was saying was, no, I don't try to pick up chicks by trying
to convince them I work at NASA (or even at N.A.S.A. :) ).
Claro?
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sun Feb 02 2003 - 22:45:48 MST