To call out; the coves sing out beef; they call out stop thief. nothing. What does commonwealth mean in US English? How do rationalists justify the scientific method. implying I must be really thick. Original plural in the animal sense was beeves. Here is the best interpretation of BEEF from World Wide Words: We have to go back further to trace the verb to its beginnings. Where should small utility programs store their preferences? complaint of soldiers about the quantity or quality of beef rations. They have cried beef on us. The mooing and complaining by cows would be "beefing". To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. A pick-pocket, who lurks DUMMEE. Are they a girl or a boy ? This page explains what the slang term "Beef" means. shouts of “stop thief” were nothing more than making fuss about None of the comments under my post make sense to me. There’s no clear origin story for this word but it seems to have organically arisen in the post-2012 dating app boom. Some speculate that it refers to two beefy–meaning muscular–men settling a dispute with violence. How can you trust that there is no backdoor in your hardware? The origin and signification are unclear; perhaps it traces to the common late 19c. Origin of the slang AmE and BrE usage of “beef”, MAINTENANCE WARNING: Possible downtime early morning Dec 2/4/9 UTC (8:30PM…, “Question closed” notifications experiment results and graduation, “inquisitive” vs. “inquiring” in AmE and BrE. Why are Stratolaunch's engines so far forward? This expression, whether in its noun form have a beef, or its verb form, to beef, may come down to us from Cockney rhyming slang. The figurative usage of "beef" appears to be mainly and originally an AmE one, so the reference to American soldiers (and possibly cowboys) sounds reasonable, but the rhyming slang assumption would make it a BrE expression which, for some reason, became popular in the U.S., or are we talking about two different stories which originated the same expression? To cry beef; to give the alarm. Throw away the As the third paragraph of the World Wide Words answer observes, "The next step is a bit disconnected, because the written evidence for it only begins to appear in the 1860s and it doesn’t chart the way that. In the uses above, calling the complaint a beef is meant to make light of the complaint and give a slight nudge to the complainer that they are complaining about something we don't think they should. Why do I need to turn my crankshaft after installing a timing belt? Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. The part of the entry I quote is one paragraph, as it appears above. Why `bm` uparrow gives extra white space while `bm` downarrow does not? How does linux retain control of the CPU on a single-core machine? Others believe it is tied to the Cockney rhyming slang, “hot beef” which means “stop thief.” How this would have traveled to the United States is unknown. In the early eighteenth century there was a slang phrase to cry hot beef or give hot beef, which meant to raise the alarm, to start pursuit or to set up a hue and cry. Saying you've got a beef—or are beefing—with somebody has actually been slang since the late 19th century. BEEF. "I don't know what his beef is -- I did clean up. Original plural in the animal sense was beeves. Thief!" The 1811 edition of the “Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue” defines Beef However, even before that, people were using beef as slang. The point is that that explanation re the hot beef expression PREDATES the OP's explanation date by some 125 years and it is BrE! What do you call 'underground floors' in AmE and BrE? they cry out thieves after us. The origin of this term is unknown. 1888 “He'll beef an' kick like a steer an' let on he won't never wear 'em.”—New York World, 13 May; Beef as noun [1899] Slang (originally U.S.) The origin and signification are unclear; perhaps it traces to the common late 19c. The traditional shout of “stop thief!” was mocked by being replaced by A term used by the non-binary/ genderqueer community as an alternative to girl/boy. Regarding its origin I could find two main assumptions: according to Etymonline it comes from American soldiers slang: While this extract from Quora suggests that is origin is from rhyming slang: In short, is there a plausible and reliable origin of the figurative usage of "beef"? Roast beef is first recorded 1630s; French rosbif is from English. 1888 N.Y. World 13 May (Farmer), He'll beef an' kick like a steer an' let on he won't never wear 'em. meaning ‘stop thief!’ (quasi-rhyming slang but more by coincidence than design, since it is far older than rhyming slang's first widespread use in the 1820s-30s); thus the 18th century cry hot beef, to raise a hue and cry. complaint of U.S. soldiers about the quantity or quality of beef rations. Beef as verb [1888] Slang (originally U.S.): To complain, gripe, grumble, protest. what they appear to be. complaint of soldiers about the quantity or quality of beef rations. Grothendieck group of the category of boundary conditions of topological field theory, What would result from not adding fat to pastry dough. Imagine that none too few persons in the market know the thief, or consider themselves bound to him by common interest. Origin of figurative use of 'ugly American' in the pejorative sense of 'ignorant, arrogant U.S. citizen abroad', Status of sometime vs some time in AmE and BrE. Beef definition. Used by a human on another, it isn't typically meant to insult the person as dumb meat but only to make light of the complaint, and to subtly say the complaint is somewhat superfluous. slang (orig. Can I run my 40 Amp Range Stove partially on a 30 Amp generator, 1888 “He'll beef an' kick like a steer an' let on he won't never wear 'em.”—New York World, 13 May, 1899 “He made a Horrible Beef because he couldn't get Loaf Sugar for his Coffee.”—Fables in Slang (1900) by George Ade, page 80. Beef as noun [1899] Slang (originally U.S.): A complaint, protest, grievance, gripe, objection, argument, a bone of contention. This phrase has been around for a couple of centuries now and comes How to place 7 subfigures properly aligned? In the narrow streets, a neighborhood pickpocket weaves through the crowd, pursued by a stranger shouting, "Stop! Why were there only 531 electoral votes in the US Presidential Election 2016? The report was submitted on time. It is entirely possible, however, and perhaps even likely, that "beef" in this sense is simply a sort of shorthand to describe a situation or complaint that might well escalate into a "beefy" muscular conflict. book, [D]ing the dummee, and bolt, they sing out beef. Your answer would be greatly strengthened if you could cite a reference, or examples of. Some speculate that it refers to two beefy–meaning muscular–men settling a dispute with violence. We are constantly updating our database with new slang terms, acronyms, and abbreviations. 2. Hence verbal noun ‘beefing.’ Earlier it meant to talk loudly or idly. SQUEAK. To be in a [[How's them apples?]] A pocket book. and you need to highlight writings that are not yours! They squeak beef upon us; dummee of the screens; take all the bank notes out of the pocket This would be improved with some evidence. The noun meaning "argument" is recorded from 1930s. This may have been based on a street hawker’s cry and to have been a pun on stop thief! The OP was not SURE about the BrE origins. To that he credits the butcher who serves him. Well known for its use of cockney rhyming slang, phrases aren’t always and "I had a beef with him" (not a steak). The difference between 'purview' and 'remit' (BrE/AmE)? Decipher name of Reverend on Burial entry. Fuck McDonald's, let's go somewhere where the burgers are real beef. English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.