shake hands with the unemployed
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
An oblique reference to the usual 'employment' of the penis in sex, masturbation, or urination. In reference to masturbation, sometimes credited to American comedian George Carlin.
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Verb[edit]
shake hands with the unemployed (third-person singular simple present shakes hands with the unemployed, present participle shaking hands with the unemployed, simple past shook hands with the unemployed, past participle shaken hands with the unemployed)
- (euphemistic slang, of men) To urinate.
- 1975, E. E. LeMasters, Blue-collar Aristocrats: Life-styles at a Working-class Tavern, University of Wisconsin Press, pages 103-104:
- An older man made this remark when he left the bar to urinate: "Well, I'll go back and shake hands with the unemployed." Since he was heading for the men's room I didn't get the significance of this statement for a minute or so; it was, of course, a reference to sexual inactivity.
- (euphemistic slang, of men) To masturbate.
- 1993, Seattle Sal, Grunge Jokes, S.P. Books, page 43:
- Why did the preppie boy make a great social worker? He had a lot of practice shaking hands with the unemployed.
Synonyms[edit]
- (urination): See Thesaurus:urinate
- (masturbation): See Thesaurus:masturbate
References[edit]
- Geoff Tibals, The Mammoth Book of Comic Quotes, Constables and Robinson, 2012, p. 385.