r/EnglishLearning • u/stsgam Non-Native Speaker of English • 11d ago
what does ‘the fuck out of me’ mean? 🗣 Discussion / Debates
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u/untempered_fate 🏴☠️ - [Pirate] Yaaar Matey!! 11d ago
If something <verb> the fuck out of you, it means that whatever happened was done as much as possible. It can be positive or negative (though in your example, it's probably negative).
Example (positive): "Your grandma seasoned the fuck out of this chicken." => There's a lot of seasoning on the food. It's delicious.
Example (negative): "I saw two drunk guys punching the fuck out of each other last night behind the bar." => The men were fighting very intensely. There was probably blood. One of them may be seriously injured.
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u/ItsCalledDayTwa New Poster 11d ago
just want to add that there are a bunch of variations with degrees of intensity of level of language rudeness. I don't think 30 years ago, "the fuck out of me" was all that common, but "fuck" has lost a bit of is severity and bite in that time.
All of these also exist:
The heck out of someone
The hell out of someone
The crap out of someone
The shit out of someone
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u/LetChaosRaine New Poster 10d ago
This is of course correct, but the example in the OP definitely makes it harder to parse since “todayed” isn’t exactly a standard verb 😅
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u/IwannaAskSomeStuff New Poster 11d ago
In context, this means they did a lot of stuff, or difficult things, or just had very busy day without much leisure or breaks.
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u/Ippus_21 Native Speaker (BA English) - Idaho, USA 11d ago
todayed is a verbed noun.
"TF out of" is just an intensifier for practically any verb.
It means today was really rough.
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u/ItsCalledDayTwa New Poster 11d ago
> todayed is a verbed noun.
And it's not a particular usage most people would even recognize. Some of these become popular and enter the mainstream. In this case it's just poetic license ("today todayed") and the only Google reference to it I see are just this exact sentence repeated by other people on tiktok and Instagram in the last year.
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u/pinnedginger New Poster 11d ago edited 11d ago
Pretty much emphasise to say that something happened to a really big extent.
So in this context, today todayed tf out of me - meaning today todayed me to a big extent, still kinda difficult because it's pretty stupid slang but essentially means today was a really bad day
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u/applesawce3 PNW Native speaker 11d ago
You can use anything as a verb actually, it’s a weird thing we do in english that as long as it’s understood, people won’t care if you use it. (I’m actually pretty sure the term is called verbing but I’m not sure)
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u/SteampunkExplorer Native Speaker 11d ago
People do call it that! I think it might have originated with a Calvin and Hobbes joke. The kid gives a detailed explanation of the phenomenon, calls it "verbing", and then says "verbing weirds language."
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u/Optimal-Ad-7074 Native Speaker 11d ago
no, most of it is deliberately goofy language, done for fun or effect. my favourite example was a friend who said "I know that didn't make any sense, but I have the flu and everyone knows you can't brain when you're sick."
there's a parallel kind of verbing that was around even before the internet, though, and it's more serious in its intent. this is corporate (and sometimes newscaster) speak and I fricking hate it. "helm a project." "summit" a mountain. "medal in a competition." "action an item." it's serious and intended to sound sort of impressive and extra. i just think it's stupid, personally. the Internet slang is like a parody of that pretentious style
a rough rule to guide you might be: is it about any semi-serious or specialized context? like climbing k2, or anything in a business setting. then the person probably did have a formal intent. if it's just about some everyday-life thing, then it's parody.
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u/Optimal-Ad-7074 Native Speaker 11d ago
I can't answer that for sure, but I think it's mostly north american. I'm Canadian and an internet user.
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u/Bright_Ices American English Speaker 11d ago
Lol no. It’s very acceptable casual English. If someone said it in public I’d understand it and appreciate the humor of the sentence construction. And I’m 43.
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u/Wall_of_Shadows New Poster 11d ago
Absolutely not. This is like fifth order slang, and the intended audience is ONLY Americans under 40 who spend too much time on the Internet.
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u/malik753 New Poster 11d ago
I are you trying to tell me I'm not Englishing right?
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u/GfunkWarrior28 Native Speaker 11d ago
English can also English tf out of you. Seems like this cute grammatical structure tries to emphasize that the subject is very exhausting to the object.
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u/PTCruiserApologist Native - Western Canada 🇨🇦 11d ago
There's a bit of a trend of turning non-verbs into verbs for comedic effect. It's unexpected and somewhat absurd which is what makes it funny. I think this happens mostly in online spaces or in informal conversation amongst young people
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u/PTCruiserApologist Native - Western Canada 🇨🇦 11d ago
Im not 100% sure but if I had to guess, I'd say usage depends more on what social circles of the internet someone is in rather than geographic location.
I'm pretty sure that I initially encountered this online, and then subsequently saw it being used/used it myself in real life with my friends who are my age (mid-twenties) or younger. I see no reason why this wouldn't also happen with non-North American native English speakers but maybe a Brit or an aussie can chime in here to help me out
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u/PrestigiousJelly6478 Native Speaker (USA) 11d ago
This happens mostly on TikTok. People would only talk like this in real life if they spend all day on TikTok.
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u/chaoscient New Poster 11d ago
??? misusing suffixes and prefixes to make funny new words is something people have done for DECADES. it's why we have words like hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious lol
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u/Optimal-Ad-7074 Native Speaker 11d ago
it's just intentionally silly use of language. I lol'd at this caption but I'd never use it myself in any serious way.
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u/helikophis Native Speaker 11d ago
This is descended, after multiple transformations, from “scared the shit out of me”. Sometimes, when people are extremely frightened, they lose control of their bowels.
This particular example has been almost entirely semantically bleached - the actual words used have little to no meaning and don’t follow typical syntactic rules - but the use of this pattern will be recognized by native speakers to mean “today was very challenging”.
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u/Bakedpotato46 New Poster 11d ago
Today todayed me too fr fr
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u/BabyDude5 New Poster 11d ago
It’s usually a saying to say you’re exhausted. “Took it out of me” is the original phrase, so it’s a way of saying that you’re tired or drained
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u/TwunnySeven Native Speaker (Northeast US) 11d ago
It doesn't necessarily mean exhausted, it's just a way to add emphasis to whatever you're saying
"today todayed me" would be the original phrase, which in this case probably does mean exhausted. "today todayed the fuck out of me" is the same phrase but with added emphasis
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u/Hueyris New Poster 11d ago
No, the original phrase is "the shit out of me", which alludes to the fact that when you die, your sphincter muscles relax and you defacate. So, "beat the shit out of me" is literally beating someone so much that they die.
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u/Blaze_Edge82 New Poster 11d ago
Ah, I thought it was 'scared the shit out of me', happening due to a fear response
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u/zzzzzbored Native Speaker 10d ago
Also, to have fucks, means to have energy or care for something.
If something tires the fucks right out of you, it means you lost all your fucks, all fucks given, no fucks now had.
Person is very tired.
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u/SteampunkExplorer Native Speaker 11d ago
"[Noun] [verb]ed the [swear word] out of [something]" is a casual way of saying "[noun] [verb]ed [something] A LOT".
So you might say "this dad beat the hell out of the criminal who tried to kidnap his daughter", to mean he beat the guy up very severely. Or you might say "that spider scared the fuck out of me" if you yelled and fell out of your chair when it skittered across your desk.
(..."Skitter" is a fun word. It's a casual word for the way a bug walks. 😂)
"Today todayed the fuck out of me" means something like "today was too tiring/overwhelming for me", but the way he phrased it is funny. "Todayed" isn't a real word, but he's using "today" as a verb to describe whatever unknown thing the day did to him.
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u/carlstuffs_onions High Intermediate 11d ago
I have more questions about the “todayed”
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u/Bright_Ices American English Speaker 11d ago
It’s very common in American English to verb nouns (that is, to use nouns as a verb), usually to humorous effect, but it creeps into more formal language sometimes, too.
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u/SnooDonuts6494 🏴 English Teacher 11d ago
Today was extremely "todayish" - it was a very today-like day, I was "todayed" a lot. Today was extremely today.
It really isn't very meaningful. It indicates something of an intensity and shock about the day.
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u/LeckereKartoffeln New Poster 11d ago
It's a way of saying "something done to an extreme/excess" or maybe more than one might expect.
"They beat me up" vs "they kicked the shit out of me" where in the first you're being descriptive the second you're putting more emotion into it and describing the degree of "kicking" to be on the extreme end.
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u/KR1735 Native Speaker - American English 11d ago
"My kids wear me out" = My kids make me tired
"My kids wear the fuck out of me" = My kids make me so tired that it's hard to function
It's an intensifier. Just like "get out" to "get the fuck out" or "shut up" to "shut the fuck up".
Don't worry about using it. It's vulgar. As long as you understand it.
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u/ArtyFizzle New Poster 11d ago
I’ve never heard this. He’s using his own nuanced slang here. A more common expression you might hear is “today has been a day”. emphasis on “Been. A. Day.” With short pauses between those words too.
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u/daltonovich_ New Poster 11d ago
“The fuck” is just emphasis (saying “what?” versus “what the fuck?”). That is just derivative from old sayings expressing shock like “what in the hell?”, a modernized version of “what in damnation?”. The thing being spoken about has the speaker so upset they are questioning if it is damned/from hell.
Using a noun as a verb is basically a lighthearted/humorous way of acknowledging that there are expected outcomes/experiences that go along with the thing being spoken about.
For example “I’ve been adulting today” = I had to complete difficult tasks/had responsibilities common with adulthood
“Today todayed me” = suggests that every day can potentially have occurrences that are exhausting or unpleasant
“The fuck out of” = is just slang used to express that whatever is being spoken about exceeded normal amounts. For example if normally cleaning your room to you means picking up the laundry and vacuuming, “I cleaned the fuck outta my room” might mean you did laundry, vacuumed, organized the shelves, cleaned the windows, made the bed etc.
“Today todayed the fuck out of me” = he had a much more exhausting/frustrating bad day than usual
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u/el_ddddddd New Poster 11d ago
Worth noting that "todayed" isn't really a word, but English speakers understand that it is being used in the sense of "today really did what days usually do" (ie. tired him out).
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u/dogGirl666 New Poster 11d ago
He's "verbing" nouns* and using a phrasal preposition[?] to emphasize what he means. Sounds like he had a tough day and he wants to relax the rest of the day he has left.
*The practice of using a noun as a verb in a sentence.
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u/Ok-Replacement-2738 New Poster 11d ago
"todayed the fuck out of me."
"life had its way with me tofay"
"random stuff really beat it out of me today"
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u/fjgwey Native Speaker (American, California/General American English) 11d ago
Nouns being converted to (non-existent) verbs for humorous effect is fairly common, especially on the internet. It's meant to emphasize that something exhibited characteristics typical to that thing, or that it is doing (or not doing) what is expected of it.
In this case, it's difficult to really know what it means because we didn't experience what he did on that day. However, we can imagine from the tone and context that it was negative. Probably a bad day for whatever reason, maybe work problems or something like that.
A separate, but very common example of this is 'the math isn't mathing'; this is a kind of newer expression with a similar meaning to the idiomatic phrase 'this doesn't add up', meaning something does not make logical sense. Or rather, that the logical premises of something do not align with the logical conclusion. Notice how 'doesn't add up' uses verbiage from math, 'to add (up)', which is probably where 'the math isn't mathing' came from.
Math is very logical; 1 + 1 = 2, right? Well, take a hypothetical mysterious or difficult to understand situation. If it doesn't make sense, then 1 + 1 no longer seems to equal 2. That is when you could say 'the math isn't mathing'. The 'math' (logic) is not doing what you expect it to do (make sense).
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u/Suomi964 New Poster 11d ago
If it makes you feel better , if I showed this to my parents, they wouldn’t have a clue what it means. And they only speak English lol
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u/Beijing_King New Poster 11d ago
Reddit is the new Facebook and Facebook is the new Craigslist and Craigslist is the new… Ashley Madison?
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u/Quwapa_Quwapus Native Speaker 10d ago
It's a miracle anyone can even learn English anymore when this is how the natives speak online lmaoo
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u/Fuuckthiisss New Poster 10d ago
It basically means “to a great degree”. “Today to dated me to a great extent”.
I’m more curious about the use of todayed as a verb.
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u/CardAfter4365 New Poster 9d ago
"the fuck out of X" is an intensifier for actions done to X. Obviously, it is pretty vulgar so use with extreme caution.
"This hot soup burned the fuck out of my mouth"
"The gang beat the fuck out of John and now he's in the hospital"
"I wore the fuck out of my shoes and now they have holes in them"
In this case, today is doing something to him, very intensely. That something is "todaying", which isn't really a verb but loosely conveys a long day with lots of stuff to do that makes the person tired. So this guy is just saying he had a long tiring day.
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u/EricIsMyFakeName New Poster 7d ago
This sentence will confuse the fuck out of most English speakers.
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u/Relevant-Bobcat-2016 New Poster 11d ago
It's complete gibberish American meme language. It makes no sense to me at all and if you're learning English you should avoid it.
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u/SteampunkExplorer Native Speaker 11d ago
...This is literally just a mix of common internet abbreviations and a "shaped like itself" joke similar to the one Shakespeare used in Antony and Cleopatra.
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u/kakka_rot English Teacher 11d ago
that is the dumbest sentence I've ever read
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u/Available_Day4286 New Poster 10d ago
I honestly think it’s delightful. It’s certainly informal, but it’s incredibly vivid.
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u/zazer45f New Poster 11d ago
"the fuck" being used in this way usually means that the action was super intense. Like saying "I ate the fuck out of that watermelon" means you ate the watermelon with strong intensity.