After some sort of blank brain as far as a good phrase for today's post is concerned, I decided to look into the phrase
"to be screwed"
What does it mean?
It means to be cheated or tricked, or to be in a hopeless situation.
What is its origin?
I couldn't find any exact facts on the origin of it being used in this sense but the verb "to screw" has been used in a different than the original meaning (fasten something with a screw) in slang since at least 1725.
My two cents:
I would never have thought that the other slang use (in sexual context) was that old. Maybe because I never realised that people already had slang centuries ago. I mean, I knew that the poorer classes in Victorian England spoke their own slang but somehow...I didn't know it went back that far. It's interesting, though, that I couldn't find an approximate date of origin for the meaning I present here.
Language ... the bridge of communication, the magic creator of worlds, the brush and paint of authors. Language is magic. It gives us power. It is something you just have to love.
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