Thumbing through the dictionary
I recently noticed how many body parts have made the leap from noun to verb. Here are a few things you can do with your body parts as verbs:
Shoulder the burden.
Face the music.
Arm yourselves!
Foot the bill.
Stomach an awful movie.
Finger the suspect.
Elbow a pushy jerk on the subway.
Neck with your girlfriend.
Tongue her if she’ll let you.
Bone her once your parents go to sleep.
Mouth along with the music.
Head out of here.
Skin a cat.
Scalp the cat’s owner.
Back out on your commitment.
Eyeball the hot girl at the club.
Hand over your cash.
Knee a mugger in the nuts.
Thumb your nose at the President.
Heart New York.
Butt out.
Comments
Toe the line
Posted by: Justin | August 28, 2006 9:16 AM
Gut a fish.
I also couldn’t resist this SNL joke: “The penis mighter” than the sword.
Posted by: Anthony Garone | August 29, 2006 1:40 PM
Nail your boyfriend.
Posted by: EmmaGiselle | August 29, 2006 3:50 PM
Variety magazine uses “ankle” in headlines as a verb, to mean “quitting” or “leaving”, as in “JONES ANKLES PAR FOR UNI”
Posted by: NKW | August 29, 2006 3:54 PM
Palm a basketball.
Gum up the works.
I can’t really heel, but my dog can.
And as George Carlin points out, on TV, you can prick your finger, but you can’t finger your prick.
Posted by: Alanon | August 29, 2006 6:28 PM
You may find “Philosophy in the flesh” as an interesting study on why we use body parts for language.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465056741/102-7877807-0459328?v=glance&n=283155
Posted by: Greg | August 29, 2006 7:42 PM
I’ve knuckled under to the urge to post a comment.
Posted by: unclewilly | August 30, 2006 10:42 AM
Time to “bust” up this thread. We don’t have time to “dick” around.
Posted by: Andrew | September 4, 2006 4:04 PM
Ball three fine honeys tonight?
Posted by: cklennon | September 12, 2006 3:49 PM
“Nail your boyfriend” and “Gum up the works” seem to not refer to the specific body parts, but rather to the homophones that more correctly match their idiomatic uses. (“Nail” from the metal thing, which is driven into things; “Gum” from the sticky substance, which gunks up things.)
Muscle someone into doing your homework for you.
Babies teething. (Too obvious?)
Nose your way in. (To complement “Thumb your nose…”)
Legging it to work. (British slang for running.)
Posted by: Justin de la Cruz | April 9, 2009 11:45 AM
George Carlin points out, on TV, you can prick your finger, but you can’t finger your prick.
Posted by: Buzz | July 4, 2010 9:24 AM