Hoodie and Bless

norazamuddin bin mohd tahar
a111915


"hoodie"

It referred to people who were going around looking like gangs wearing hooded tops, baseball caps, clothing which deliberately obscured the face, suggesting that the wearer might be a danger to the public.I mean, youngsters complaining of being stereotyped just because of a few nasty people. The linguistics isn't so controversial. The spelling first of all, 'hoody', or 'hoodie', and more often with the 'ie' than not. And that's because it's the usual familiarity marker that you get on lots of words in English, words like, sweetie, auntie, goalie (goal keeper), daddie and mummie, and of course in names too, Susie (Susan).

Well, will it catch on? I think so, judging by the huge sales of hoodies now. And also, it's achieved a kind of presence in popular music. There was a single released towards the end of 2005 by Lady Sovereign, it was actually called 'Hoodie'. And then on the web the other day, I was looking at iPods, and the latest accessory to keep your iPod clothed - what do you think it's called? An iPod hoodie!

"bless"

There's quite a range of explanations using 'bless' in English, all originally from the religious use of the word. 'Bless you!' somebody says after a sneeze. 'Ah! Bless my soul!' - a rather older fashioned one. 'Bless you!'

An interesting one is, 'Bless your heart!' used mainly by adults talking down - 'Ah! Bless your heart!' - to a child.

And in the 1990s, this remarkable use, the verb by itself, usually preceeded by the interjection, 'Ah!' - 'Ah! Bless!' - that sort of use. Notice the tone of voice there.

I heard it when a little child had a cat snuggling up to her and the parent said, 'Ah! Bless!' And then the child hurt her finger, 'Ah! Bless!' People at the zoo, looking at penguins, 'Ah! Bless! Isn't it sweet!'

Of course, when you get a usage like that it can get ironic very quickly. A politician now in parliament complains of harsh treatment and somebody says, 'Ah! Bless! Isn't it sad that he's so upset!' Or somebody's really trying to do something but not succeeding, 'Ah! Bless!' once again.

It's a general expression of indulgent sympathy - 'Isn't that sweet?' - always with that distinctive tone of voice, always a hint of talking down.
Never, never, never, use it to your boss, not if you want to keep your job!