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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1574 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 26, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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My first thought is 'gangbanger'.

Some time ago I listened to a British podcast where some people were reading YA novels, and in one book the protagonist was attacked by a group of "street-hardened gangbangers" and the entire group was left sniggering for a good few minutes. I know that it means 'thugs' in American English, but the mental image of being jumped by a bunch of gangbangers in the British sense is really quite funny.

I don't know that "gangbanger" is mostly innocent in the US. I'd say it's something like "Johnson" in that the obscene simply coexists with the non-obscene.

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