Never heard of it before but if you google it, it seems to be quite common. Turn down the heat? Mind you, I never thought 'sex up' a very appropriate image. Just make it sounds more exciting in the press. And headline writers love words with low character counts - like 'fury', 'rift' &c.
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It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world. -
I've just googled it, but the only references I get that are in any sense the opposite of 'sexing up' are from today's news.Originally posted by french frank View Post
I think that whoever coined this in the sense I'm talking about (Nick Clegg?) thought of 'down' as the opposite of 'up', and didn't really consider what the 'sexing' bit meant.
.Last edited by jean; 21-01-15, 10:43.Comment
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Originally posted by jean View Post
No, it mainly seems to be a youth slang term. Though 'make more exciting' might be rendered as 'more urgent', thus 'needing urgent action'. As I say, I think it was coined by the press to make the press stories even more exciting, sensational. Which might be wholly justified, of course ...
But I'm wrong ...
OED, first use is 1931:
3. trans. colloq. With up. To make more sexually exciting or explicit; to inject sexual content into (a book, film, etc.). Now also more generally: to make something more interesting or exciting; to spice up.
1931 H. L. Wilson Two Black Sheep 159 ‘Put her in one of those things and sex it up to a glucose finish!’ ‘But she ain't film-minded,’ insisted the director sadly.
Article updated 2008, but hasn't caught up with 'sex down' - definitely a new (ad hoc?) coinage.It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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I edited my post, because references from today's news have have just appeared online!
Definitely ad hoc, and could never make much sense out of a context in which sexed up hadn't become notorious.
(I didn't realise sex up was so old, though.)Comment
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yes, that must explain CHAOS when a train is five minutes late, or it starts to rainOriginally posted by french frank View PostComment
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But here it is in a literal sense:Originally posted by french frank View Post
(I could analyse why this works better than the metaphorical sense we are dealing with here, but I haven't got time.)Comment
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Yes - and FURY!Originally posted by mercia View PostIt isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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- and SHOCK every time there's a puny rise in council tax.Comment
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the rises that took my council tax to a £180 a month weren't puny at all.Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View Post
They were HUGEI will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
I am not a number, I am a free man.Comment
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One-Hundred-and-EIGHTY?Originally posted by teamsaint View Post
Bof! Oh, a MONTH!!?? You'd better move, or downsize. (Mine's only (only!!) £95. But then, it's a very modest dwelling in an unfashionable area ... 
It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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Originally posted by french frank View PostOne-Hundred-and-EIGHTY? Bof! Oh, a MONTH!!?? You'd better move, or downsize. (Mine's only (only!!) £95. But then, it's a very modest dwelling in an unfashionable area ...
..a month, obviously !! Downsize? I wish. Kids can't get on the housing ladder , parents want to move in.......sigh......
TS Towers may have a posh name,but its a modest family home, and I think you will find that it is " Up the hill" that is the fashionable part of this village.
Bristol is highly desirable in its entirety... all the young people love it....especially now that Eastville Stadium has been replaced by an IKEA and a Tesco.....
anyway, all off topic , (what is the topic again?) all due to EA's inflammatory remarks...or are they flammatory?......Last edited by teamsaint; 21-01-15, 15:15.I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
I am not a number, I am a free man.Comment
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My point was that headliners use the word "shock" for things that are entirely predictable.Originally posted by teamsaint View PostComment
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And mine was about SEX UP (or DOWN), either of which ff speculated might be attractive to headline writers because of their low letter count.
(Honestly, the short attention span round these parts...)Comment
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ah, but "puny " rises in council tax aren't predictable....the huge ones are.....Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View Post
anyway, looks like I have the wrong end of the" council tax rise" stick.....I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
I am not a number, I am a free man.Comment
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