what a dud!, page-12

This thread title is a dud!

It's been amusing reading all the posts today, esp. with so many people on ignore, the interactions are sometimes hilarious (I have to guess who's saying what). The analogy of the fat kid on the sidelines, bagging out the football players was a classic.

From wikipedia:

A dud is an ammunition round or explosive that fails to fire or detonate, respectively, on time or on command. Duds are still dangerous and have to be deactivated and disposed of carefully. Poorly designed devices (for example, IEDs), and small devices, have higher chances of being duds. "Device Unable to Detonate" could be a possible acronym, or at least a backronym, for dud.

The variation absolute dud describes a nuclear weapon that fails to explode.

Although dud rounds have failed to function as designed, they are still dangerous, and can explode if handled. In wartorn areas, many curious children have been injured or killed from tampering with such devices. Dud fireworks should be destroyed by soaking in water. No attempts to relight them should be made. People should keep away from dud ammunition and should call proper authorities who can safely handle and remove it.

By extension, "dud" has become a slang word for anything that does not work or is defective. There is also a candy called Milk Duds, so named because it was impossible to get them perfectly round.

An expression used to describe a person who failed to meet standards in relationships. A complete and utter yanni or vice versa;

Duds - 16th century term for "clothes".
Dud - 17th century term for "worthless". Then 17th Century term for "old clothes" and "rags".
Duddery - 17th-19th century term for a "clothier's booth", trading in old cloth and rags.
To sweat your duds - 19th century term to "pawn one's clothes"
Dudman - "Scarecrow!" Possibly from Dutch Dood (dead) man, or from the old clothes used to clothe a scarecrow.
Generally your duds are "your last possessions", what you are wearing and carrying, so nice duds is ironic and possibly an oxymoron.

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Have another read of this article, as well as this one, and then tell me that the company & it's achievements in the last 9 months warrant the use of the term "dud". I'm happy to buy some more duds, esp. at these prices - and I'm not talking about old clothes.



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