(no subject)

[minervasolo]

From UXN's summary of Astonshing X-men #5:

Emma’s statement to Rao about band aids doing “Sweet F.A.” is an abbreviated reference to "Sweet Fanny Addams," - a British slang meaning "little or nothing at all." It is derived from the tale of 8 year-old Fanny Adams of Hampshire, England, who was brutally murdered in 1867.

Bwahahahaaaa! I have never heard the phrase 'sweet fanny adams', except possibly in faux-Victorian literature and a bit of Terry Pratchett (interesting to know where it comes from though). I have, however, heard Sweet FA used to mean Sweet Fuck All. Bless 'em for trying to keep the site so child friendly.

Comments

[annapanna.livejournal.com]

what does a girl being murdered have to do with little or nothing at all??

[minervasolo.livejournal.com]

I know, it's bizarre. Maybe the police did nothing, or the murderer defend him/herself with the murder meaning nothing, or something.

[almighty-frog.livejournal.com]

. . . actually, "sweet fanny adams" is the correct non-abbreviated version. I'm afraid they're entirely correct. Explanatory quote:

Poor Fanny's headstone, erected by Public subscription in 1874, and renovated a few years ago, still stands in the town cemetery on the Old Odiham Road. It might have been our only reminder of the tragic affair had it not been for the macabre humour of British Sailors.

Served with tins of mutton as the latest shipboard convenience food in 1869, they gloomily declared that their butchered contents must surely be 'Sweet Fanny Adams'. Gradually accepted throughout the armed services as a euphemism for 'sweet nothing' it passed into common usage.

So, they're being accurate rather than being child-friendly. The "nothing" part comes from the tins of mutton containing nothing the soldiers thought edible.

[minervasolo.livejournal.com]

I know FA is an abbreviation of Fanny Adams, but it's also Fuck All, and in the context (and considering the character) fuck all seems more appropriate. Her boyfriend has been shot and they're offering her a small first aid kit. Most readers would pick up on it as Fuck All (especially being American), even though the character is English. Hell, the writer is American: it's Joss Whedon!

[almighty-frog.livejournal.com]

Ah, that makes more sense now. Didn't know the context, y'see. ^_^

[minervasolo.livejournal.com]

It just seemed to me that UXN was groping for straws (it that a real metaphor?) when it came up with fanny adams. Sure, it's a real phrase, but why on earth would anyone use/know it? They seem to have gone "character English => old fashioned slang" in the same way "english = cockney or posh" and no other accents.

sorry, bit tipsy.