Party pooper

A clown made unhappy by a party pooper.
Hint: It’s not someone who poops at parties!

YouTube / iTunes / Spotify / Radio Public / Pocket Casts / Google Podcasts / Breaker / Overcast

Listen to ArtisanEnglish.jp posts & lesson intros here.



WotD: Party pooper

Sometimes, words in the English language make no sense to non-native speakers such as this guy.

Party pooper is one of those terms. 

Even if you asked a native speaker where it comes from, they would most likely have no idea. 

Before I go into more detail, you need to know what it means.

Party pooper means to take the happiness out of a situation. 


A party pooper is someone who takes the happiness out of a situation.

Anyone who does something to stop your fun can be a party pooper.


This is the time of year when mothers across North America take the fun out of parties almost every night. 

The National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs have begun, which means late-night hockey. 

It’s an excellent time for children to bond with their fathers while watching TV hockey. 

The problem is many games go into overtime, and West Coast games have a late start and even later finish on the East Coast.

I’m sure mothers everywhere make their children go to bed before the final whistle. 

If it’s a school night, the kids have to get up early the following day and go to school. 

This gives mothers a lousy reputation as party poopers who take the fun out of late-night hockey. 

Now, with that out of the way, I’ve researched and found three possible origins for today’s word of the day.

Firstly, if you’re pooped, you’re tired.

We all know it’s hard to be the life of the party if you’re tired.

Therefore, someone who’s pooped may not be a lot of fun. 

Secondly, naysayers like to pooh-pooh things.

This means they say something is silly or a bad idea.

It’s always a good idea to have a party, and you should never pooh-pooh them. 

Finally, poop is the stuff that comes out of your dog’s butt.

It’s never nice to bring poop to a party – it kind of kills the mood.

So, there you have it.

That’s the meaning and three explanations for the origin of the term party pooper


Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test

This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).   

On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 77.   

The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100. 



Posted

in

by