{"id":393,"date":"2022-02-28T18:02:09","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T18:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/?p=393"},"modified":"2022-02-28T18:02:09","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T18:02:09","slug":"idioms-ill-give-you-what-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/28\/idioms-ill-give-you-what-for\/","title":{"rendered":"Idioms: “I’ll Give you What For”"},"content":{"rendered":"

– Or: You what for what?<\/h2>\n

Yeah, uhh, this one is weird!\u00a0 If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that this was a cut line from something Yoda tried to say in one of the Star Wars movies. “If into the security recordings you go, only what for will you find.”\u00a0 Missed opportunity!<\/p>\n

Or brings to mind everyone’s favorite Tasmanian Devil and the quote everyone knows from memory*: “What for you say you monkey when you have little powder puff tail like RABBIT, rabbit?”<\/p>\n

In the context of the phrase “I’ll give you what for,” turns out it is neither of those things.\u00a0 As much as we hope otherwise.\u00a0 Because writing about the grammatical structure of whatever race Yoda is has got to be fun.\u00a0 It would have been nice if George Lucas wrote -any- dialogue for Yaddle<\/em><\/a>, though.\u00a0 Same species as Yoda and also a member of the Jedi High Council.\u00a0 But nope!\u00a0 We’re left hanging.\u00a0 Now all we have are disjointed phrases, a whole lot less trying and more doing, and whatever baby sounds Grogu continues to make.<\/p>\n

Sorry, got a bit off topic there.<\/p>\n

Back to the idiom!<\/p>\n

Let’s get into the origin of the phrase, how it’s used, why it’s used, and whether or not it’s even relevant any longer.<\/p>\n

* wait.\u00a0 that’s just me?\u00a0 oh.\u00a0 erm.\u00a0 see what it’s like having a brain filled with completely unessential nonsense?\u00a0 great for the blog non-sequitur,\u00a0 not quite as much for actual functioning in life.\u00a0 also, taz is pretty darn awesome.<\/p>\n

What does it mean to be on the receiving end of a What For?<\/h2>\n

The apparent origin of this phrase is attributed to a back and forth style conversation.\u00a0 There is an implication that this is related to a form of punishment or scolding (does anybody actually ‘scold’ anymore?\u00a0 sounds too much like a hot water burn) and is loosely centered around a phrase like so:<\/p>\n

<Parent> You have done something super super bad and now I shall punish you.
\n<child> What for??
\n<Parent> What for? I’ll give you “what for!”\u00a0 You punched a hole in the wall \/ slashed the family car’s tires \/ used the fabric scissors to cut snowflakes!\u00a0 What for. I’ve got ten What-Fors for you right here.<\/p>\n

Because seriously.\u00a0 Have you ever used the fabric scissors to cut something that wasn’t fabric?\u00a0 And like a week later your parent comes in and says “<ahem> Did you use my fabric scissors on something that wasn’t fabric?” knowing full well that the fabric scissors were used to cut something that wasn’t fabric because they just don’t -work- the way they used to. To deny the crime is futile, to admit to the crime is woeful punishment incarnate.\u00a0 You lose either way, may as well fess up.<\/p>\n

ANYWAY.<\/p>\n

That’s the gist of it.\u00a0 It is an announcement that something you really don’t want to happen to you<\/em> is coming.\u00a0 These days probably means someone is going to take your phone away for an extended period of time.\u00a0 And really, would that suck so much?\u00a0 Go read a book.<\/p>\n

Earliest documented useses of “I’ll Give You What For”<\/h2>\n

This one took a bit of digging but it’s been fun trying to find sources!\u00a0 I’ll throw some examples in here of early documented usage of the idiom of What For-ness .\u00a0 Correctness of the documented usage could be in question, which is why I’m going to dump several examples so that some years from now when I come back and find that one of them was wrong, I can practice with the STRIKETHROUGH feature and be all like “Hey, Updated content!\u00a0 Time for the SEO overlords to rescan, please and thank you.”\u00a0 Or something to that effect.<\/p>\n

Example 1<\/h3>\n

The Oxford English Dictionary cites the earliest known printed use back to 1873.\u00a0 It is printed in an issue of ‘Routledge’s Young Gentleman’s Magazine’ of that year and contains the following note: “I’ll give you what for<\/strong> if it touches your lips.”\u00a0 The context appears to be missing but the assumption I’m going on is that it has something to do with adult beverages and the lips belong to someone who would get carded in a New York minute.\u00a0 You drink that beverage, you’ll wish you didn’t.\u00a0 Or something to that effect.<\/p>\n

Example B<\/h3>\n

In 1888, there is a literary example contained within the pages of “Colonel Quaritch, V.C.” (not venture capitalist) as written by H. Rider Haggard. The quote is as follows: “If I don’t make it to Boisingham, yes, and all England, too hot to hold you, my mother never christened me and my name ain’t George.\u00a0 I’ll give you what for<\/strong>, my cuckoo, that I will!”<\/p>\n

So uhh.\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 My name is<\/em> George and I still don’t exactly know what’s happening all up in there.\u00a0 I …. hmm.\u00a0 Read it again a few times and I still can’t figure it out.<\/p>\n

I wonder what the H stands for, anyway.\u00a0 Heavy?\u00a0 Hefty?\u00a0 Hearty?\u00a0 Hippopotamine? Healthful? Only the best riders for our Haggards.<\/p>\n

Example iii<\/h3>\n

Fast forward to 1890. In a short story contained in a publication by name of “Indian Tales” (I’m sure there’s nothing bad happening in that publication nope nope nope nope <\/sarcasm>) you can find the following as penned by Rudyard Kipling: “‘Now,’ gasped Jakin, ‘I’ll give you what-for<\/strong>.’ He proceeded to pound the man’s features while Lew stamped on the outlying portions of his anatomy.”<\/p>\n

The giving of the what foring is very clearly demonstrated as the heaping of abuse upon the receiving victim.\u00a0 Also, seriously.\u00a0 The outlying portions of his anatomy.\u00a0 What in the actual?\u00a0 Did his intestines fall out or something and now Lew is up there just stomping away and getting innards on his outards?\u00a0 Who writes <\/em>this stuff??<\/p>\n

Example \u0394<\/h3>\n

An 1984 entry into our lexicon comes from “Trillby” by Du Maurier.\u00a0 Which sounds more like an early episode of Star Trek with the script written by David Gerrold: “The Trouble With Tribbles.”\u00a0 Shave and rearrange a few letters, and Viola’s your uncle.\u00a0 Not Swamp.\u00a0 She ain’t having none of that.<\/p>\n

Oh yeah, the quote: “Taffy . . . was a match for any ma\u00eetre d’armes in the whole French army, and Svengali got \u2018WHAT FOR.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Poor Svengali.\u00a0 Dude got jacked.<\/p>\n

More recent example<\/h3>\n

This Example<\/a> from the 1980s contains an interesting corporate story!\u00a0 The following passage is within:<\/p>\n

“To assess the customer experience, Sigoloff made surprise visits to the stores. One day he surreptitiously traced his initials in the dust covering a mirror for sale at a Wickes Furniture location in West L.A. When the mark was still there a week later, he hauled over the store manager. He didn\u2019t fire the man, but gave him what for<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

There are many more but those were the ones that caught my eye as most interesting or plausible.<\/p>\n

Anybody still giving anybody What For or have we moved on from it?<\/h2>\n

I’m pretty sure nobody at Hallmark is coming up with a “National Give What For Day” anytime soon.\u00a0 Outside of a few fringe scenarios – including this ultra fringe blog – it seems like the use of that phrase has fallen out of favor as times have moved on.\u00a0 These things happen.\u00a0 Even ‘rekt’ is going to have its day someday.<\/p>\n

Maybe used ironically somewhere?\u00a0 The proverbial “hipster” is probably all over it like white on snow somewhere but the usage is just really not prevalent that I am able to see.\u00a0 I can remember it being more common back in the 80s in popular television (or possibly syndicated reruns of older things.\u00a0 my memory isn’t that great for that specific level of detail)<\/p>\n

It is entirely possible that the last thing you ever ever<\/em> read about the What For’ing is going to be this here blog right here right now.<\/p>\n

Pour one out for the what for.\u00a0 It had a good run.<\/p>\n

-= george =-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

– Or: You what for what? Yeah, uhh, this one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-idioms"],"yoast_head":"\nIdioms: "I'll Give you What For" - George Nowik - Voice Actor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ever heard the phrase "I'll give you what for?" Maybe not. Or maybe you have? Wanna learn something new? 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