I have always loved the word „thug“.
It is like everyone can feel its meaning.
It is phonetically shorter than „slug“, as short as bug, empty mug or under the rug.
I am really envious on that word.
My Good Ol‘ Shorter OED tells me now it is derived from Hindi. Organized robbers that strangled their victims.
Sounds pretty much like Antifa and Black Lives Matter.
Bisher 7 Kommentare
@ Magnus
Thugs were nor organized robbers. They killed their victims to sacrifice them to the goddess Kali. They made party with their victims, singing and dancing. They had scarves with a coin in it and at one special moment, they threw the scarves around the necks of their victims and strangulated them, because Kali likes it this way, without blood. There is a pretty good British or American movie about it, forgot the title
@ Erika
As my OED says, the word indeed stems from Hindi, meaning robbers and murderers who strangled their victims, if they had a cult related to Kali it does not say.
@ Magnus
PS: The word Thug is used in English today as some kind of clandestine high criminal
@ Kali
No, as far as I know „thugs“ usually refers to lowlife criminals, marauders and looters and craven crackpots as we see them now under the banners of Antifa and Black Lives Matter.
@ Magnus
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thug
You seem to be right
@ Magnus
https://www.britannica.com/topic/thug
@ Erika
Thank You very much for the historically clarifying link. Interesting that them original thugs formed a „brotherhood“…