Meaning of: save somebody's butt.

[Hongyi Zhao]

Hi all,

I see some sentences like the following:

1- save somebody's clueless butt, once in a blue moon. I told you a
million times not to exaggerate.

2- Outstanding! You saved my butt, thank you very much!

Who can give me some hints on the meaing of *save somebody's butt*?

[the Omrud]

Post by Hongyi Zhao
Hi all,
1- save somebody's clueless butt, once in a blue moon. I told you a
million times not to exaggerate.
2- Outstanding! You saved my butt, thank you very much!
Who can give me some hints on the meaing of *save somebody's butt*?

"butt" is a slightly impolite American English word for "buttocks" (i.e.
the bit you sit on). "To save somebody's butt" means to save them (from
something), or to rescue them, or to stop them making some mistake.

[Hongyi Zhao]

On Sat, 27 Dec 2008 09:27:37 GMT, the Omrud

Post by the Omrud

Post by Hongyi Zhao
Hi all,
1- save somebody's clueless butt, once in a blue moon. I told you a
million times not to exaggerate.
2- Outstanding! You saved my butt, thank you very much!
Who can give me some hints on the meaing of *save somebody's butt*?

"butt" is a slightly impolite American English word for "buttocks" (i.e.
the bit you sit on). "To save somebody's butt" means to save them (from
something), or to rescue them, or to stop them making some mistake.

Good, thanks a lot.

[j***@yahoo.com]

Post by Hongyi Zhao
On Sat, 27 Dec 2008 09:27:37 GMT, the Omrud

Post by the Omrud

Post by Hongyi Zhao
Hi all,
1-  save somebody's clueless butt, once in a blue moon. I told you a
million times not to exaggerate.
2- Outstanding! You saved my butt, thank you very much!
Who can give me some hints on the meaing of *save somebody's butt*?

"butt" is a slightly impolite American English word for "buttocks" (i.e.
the bit you sit on).  "To save somebody's butt" means to save them (from
something), or to rescue them, or to stop them making some mistake.

Good, thanks a lot.

In general "my butt", or the less polite "my ass", can simply mean
"me" or "myself". Among other things.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Mark Brader]

Post by j***@yahoo.com

Post by the Omrud
"butt" is a slightly impolite American English word for "buttocks" (i.e.
the bit you sit on). "To save somebody's butt" means to save them (from
something), or to rescue them, or to stop them making some mistake.

In general "my butt", or the less polite "my ass", can simply mean
"me" or "myself". Among other things.

Similarly, in the movie "The Hunt for Red October" there's a scene
where the American submarine captain asks a Russian submariner if
he speaks English. When the man says yes, the captain tells him in
rapid speech to "Get your butt over here."

(I'm guessing that the scriptwriter put that in because he thought the
Russian would be able to react amusingly to this peculiar sort of
English, but the director decided not to have a reaction shot because
he wanted the scene to be fast-paced.)

[Chuck Riggs]

Post by j***@yahoo.com

Post by Hongyi Zhao
On Sat, 27 Dec 2008 09:27:37 GMT, the Omrud

Post by the Omrud

Post by Hongyi Zhao
Hi all,
1-  save somebody's clueless butt, once in a blue moon. I told you a
million times not to exaggerate.
2- Outstanding! You saved my butt, thank you very much!
Who can give me some hints on the meaing of *save somebody's butt*?

"butt" is a slightly impolite American English word for "buttocks" (i.e.
the bit you sit on).  "To save somebody's butt" means to save them (from
something), or to rescue them, or to stop them making some mistake.

Good, thanks a lot.

In general "my butt", or the less polite "my ass", can simply mean
"me" or "myself". Among other things.

I wonder if "Pass my butt the salt, please" would be acceptable
English, somewhere.

[Pat Durkin]

Post by Chuck Riggs

Post by j***@yahoo.com

Post by Hongyi Zhao
On Sat, 27 Dec 2008 09:27:37 GMT, the Omrud

Post by the Omrud

Post by Hongyi Zhao
Hi all,
1- save somebody's clueless butt, once in a blue moon. I told you
a million times not to exaggerate.
2- Outstanding! You saved my butt, thank you very much!
Who can give me some hints on the meaing of *save somebody's butt*?

"butt" is a slightly impolite American English word for "buttocks"
(i.e. the bit you sit on). "To save somebody's butt" means to save
them (from something), or to rescue them, or to stop them making
some mistake.

In general "my butt", or the less polite "my ass", can simply mean
"me" or "myself". Among other things.

I wonder if "Pass my butt the salt, please" would be acceptable
English, somewhere.

Never with "please", and I doubt the situation would be found useful for
the B word. (Being polite at the table means to not bring up rough
language.) On the other hand, "Bite me" and "Kiss my ass", as Jerry
points out, use the personification technique. I can't remember where
or when, but I have heard a description of a woman as "She's all ass."
And, of course, there is "He's a horse's ass."

[Chuck Riggs]

Post by Pat Durkin

Post by Chuck Riggs

Post by j***@yahoo.com

Post by Hongyi Zhao
On Sat, 27 Dec 2008 09:27:37 GMT, the Omrud

Post by the Omrud

Post by Hongyi Zhao
Hi all,
1- save somebody's clueless butt, once in a blue moon. I told you
a million times not to exaggerate.
2- Outstanding! You saved my butt, thank you very much!
Who can give me some hints on the meaing of *save somebody's butt*?

"butt" is a slightly impolite American English word for "buttocks"
(i.e. the bit you sit on). "To save somebody's butt" means to save
them (from something), or to rescue them, or to stop them making
some mistake.

In general "my butt", or the less polite "my ass", can simply mean
"me" or "myself". Among other things.

I wonder if "Pass my butt the salt, please" would be acceptable
English, somewhere.

Never with "please", and I doubt the situation would be found useful for
the B word. (Being polite at the table means to not bring up rough
language.) On the other hand, "Bite me" and "Kiss my ass", as Jerry
points out, use the personification technique. I can't remember where
or when, but I have heard a description of a woman as "She's all ass."
And, of course, there is "He's a horse's ass."

And there's "She's a pussy cat".