Talk:ball-buster

Baleboste

I strongly suspect this word is derived from baleboste, especially given the pronunciation that appears first on that page. the Wikipedia article even spells it as Balabusta. I was hoping to find citations here but I'll do my own research. I know that there is no way to prove the derivation, and Im not aiming to ... just looking for ocntext to see if this epxression is hundreds of years old or coined in the modern era. Soap (talk) 22:02, 13 August 2018 (UTC)

Unable to confirm. All I could get was that m-w.com states that the word was coined in 1944. If they had provided a quote, that would be helpful, but they did not. Soap (talk) 00:55, 15 November 2019 (UTC)

Here is a link to a 2022 discussion about this word on the ES. —Soap— 23:54, 11 February 2024 (UTC)

etymology ideas copied from main entry

This is copied from the main entry, as once added by User:ApisAzuli:

Cp. Gaulish ambaxtos, En. Bess? Bastian "bat-man"? Cp. OHG bozen "to strike", German Amboss "anvil" < anabelzi, an(e)bōʒ, etc., MHG once "ambot", reportedly also of big women (can this be confirmed?). In case it named the Dominatrix of a Brothel, eventually, you need to take a leap of faith.

The Yiddish word itself seems terribly eroded.

I felt it would be more visible here. —Soap— 23:49, 11 February 2024 (UTC)

Beelzebub

Im not Jewish but just by happenstance came across this word when I was young and became interested in it. But it seems to me that Beelzebub is primarily used metaphorically by Christians, not by Jews, and precisely because it's confined to religious usage it wouldn't be widely used as part of pop culture as in "oh what a Beelzebub she is" and the like. If I am right about this, I think we should remove Beelzebub entirely from the etymology. It's worth repeating that I think this word wasn't so pejorative when it was first used. Can anyone give more information? Thanks, —Soap— 00:10, 12 February 2024 (UTC)