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 So in quite a few 'Buddy' movies, some character refers to the other as something that sound like 'Goat Cheese' or 'Cold Cheese'.  Riggs call Murtagh it in Lethal Weapon.  The guys in Falling Skies call their alien ally the same thing.

What is it, and why?

Regards,

Confused From Britain

I haven't seen Lethal Weapon in decades, but my guess is that he says "Cochise." 

If you know where the scene is and have it on DVD, try turning on the captions to see if that's it.

If it is, then it would be pretty distinctly American. This should help:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochise

My guess would've been "gold, Jeeves", which means they're demeaning them by referring to them as Jeeves, an obvious butler/chauffeur name, and demanding gold from them, making it a double insult. Plus they'd get some gold.

 So why is Cochise important enough to be a popular culture point of reference?  I believe McClain also says it in Die Hard...... or one of them, anyway.  It seems to be used as a term of endearment to a side-kick or partner.

I can't say I've ever heard Cochise before in my life. I think Goits is making that up. My translation makes much more sense.

It's possible I've heard Cochise before and just didn't get the reference. It sounds like a word guys might say to one another. A buddy of mine will call me "home slice." If I heard that in a movie, I wouldn't bat an eye. Some reference to cheese would also likely slip through my radar. 

 From some online Dictionary:

 Same source.  Now I know how it's spelt....

 Friday the 13th and Con-Air too.  Shit, it's everywhere!

 Men In Black III as well.

It's probably just shorthand for someone who fancies himself daring and ruthless. My guess is that it's often a term of playful derision--somewhat like calling a friend who does or says something stupid "Sherlock."

Or maybe, going a little deeper, its use is meant to suggest that, despite the daring and ruthlessness of a person, it is assumed he will fail. That would be more in keeping with the historical Cochise.

I don't know if it bears mentioning, but I know Dick Gregory was pretty preoccupied with the history of the Native Americans. He connected the whites' treatment of Native Americans with the whites' treatment of the African Americans. Also, the Sugarhill Gang did a version of "Apache."

Since these four African Americans showed a preoccupation with Native Americans, it must mean that all African Americans are preoccupied with Native Americans. Murtaugh is an African American, of course, so he would naturally be preoccupied with Native Americans. Indestructible logic!

Your powers of logical reasoning will serve Jubboiter well.

Another Amercianism I need help understanding.

Why do Americans say "Could care less" ???   Surely this means that yes, you could care less than you do now, therefore you care. 

Clearly it is "Couldn't care less" ?

It couldn't be more clear.

It's a mistake a lot of Americans make, and it's a supreme annoyance for a lot of the Americans who don't make the mistake.

My guess is that the mistake came about thanks to laziness. Why waste time with that extra syllable? It's such a common and recognizable expression that even when people were getting it wrong, their intended meaning was understood.

In language, if a mistake gets made often enough, it ceases to be understood as a mistake and begins to be accepted as a standard usage. "Could care less" and "irregardless" might one day gain across-the-board acceptance.

These days, "nauseous" is pretty much accepted as being an alternative for "nauseated." It's incredibly common to hear someone say, "I feel nauseous." Most of the people who say it mean they feel sick, and most of the people who hear it understand it to mean that the person who said it feels sick. It's a rarity for someone to hear it, get huffy, and start going off on how what "I feel nauseous" really means is that the person feels as though he causes nausea. (You have to be careful if you're going to get huffy. It could be the case that the person who said he felt nauseous did, indeed, mean that he feels as though he causes nausea.)

It takes a real douche to get huffy about the misusage of "nauseous." It's a battle with language the prescriptivists lost some time back. They might as well move on. They might as well move on where "anyways" is concerned, too. They can bitch about the "s" at the end all they want. People are still going to say it.

If you want to keep a prescriptivist on his toes, you could start your response with "I could care less... " wait for his face to flush, then finish with "but I don't." 

People make a similar mistake when they say "can't hardly wait."

We had the conversation about "could care less" a few years back, mostly because Dirty Wookie was annoyed to no end when people say it, and then Ulic said it, words were exchanged, and Wook went away. This happened on Excesiornews, but the conversation happened here. If you look, you could find it. It involved Hitler.

Did I write a lengthy response similar to the one above? I bet I did.

I found this:

http://coronacomingattractions.com/thread-where-jack-belittles-thursty

I don't think this is the thread you mean. It has Jack in it, though, so I am happy to revisit it.

It isn't the thread, but I did reference the Wook-Ulic flounce. I apparently do that a lot. I predict I will continue to do that.

I did some searching on my own and couldn't find it. You'd be surprised how many threads reference Hitler. Anyway, it's possible I posted that back at ExcelsiorNews and not here. If so, Dalty is excused for not remembering it.

Off topic, but it's kind of fun to read through some of the old conversations, back when we had more than 5 people on the boards. Good times!

 I find Americans will often put extra syllables in words, because they sound more impressive, a la "societal" instead of "social." I suspect that might be the genesis of "irregardless." 

The exception is "disoriented." The Brits use "disorientated" and it drove me crazy to no end when I was reading some book back in the day and it kept showing up.

My most recent annoyance is people/signs that use "less" when they should day "fewer."

 Whatever happened to Jack, anyway?

neglet wrote:

I find Americans will often put extra syllables in words, because they sound more impressive, a la "societal" instead of "social." I suspect that might be the genesis of "irregardless."