Talk:beat the stuffing out of
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Keep. Someone suggested that the similar thread is "not the remit" of this kind of online dictionary and IMO there is a good case that can be made for that. If anyone cares to narrow the issue without the distraction of vulgarity, this thread would be the place for it. IMO the key question is what is the role of "the X out of". To "beat" is non-idiomatic; everyone knows what it means to "beat". Non-natives, etc., might figure out that the expression means "to beat" and that the rest is superfluous. Obvious, no one takes it to mean, literally, stuffing, but a non-native speaker might puzzle over it. (My English it is not so good. This stuffing - what means that?) If for simple utility for ESL/ENthL: Geof Bard 20:52, 18 February 2011 (UTC)
- Catering specifically to non-native speakers is dangerous. On the French Wiktionary, there might be a term nominated as sum of parts, and everyone agrees but me as I don't know what it means. This could be putting the 'needs' of the minority before the 'needs' of the majority. In the above example of me on the French Wiktionary, it might be that my understanding of the individual terms is poor, but when I do understand the terms I will understand the (non-) idiom. Mglovesfun (talk) 22:52, 18 February 2011 (UTC)
- Move to beat the something out of, keeping the redirect. Substitutes for "something" are not just synonyms for "stuffing", "snot", and "crap", but also synonyms for "piss", "fuck", etc. Moreover, many noun phrases can also fit in the "something" slot, eg "beat the living bejesus out of" (52 raw hits at bgc). I suggest that each of the most common variants that are built on one-word synonyms for "stuffing" be made into redirects and that the usage notes at "beat the something out of" suggest that vast range of possible variation. DCDuring TALK 23:18, 22 February 2011 (UTC)
- It works with other initial verbs, too, as described above in ].—msh210℠ (talk) 23:30, 22 February 2011 (UTC)
- Yep, also "kick the stuffing out of". Mglovesfun (talk) 23:33, 22 February 2011 (UTC)
- We could have some of the forms based on other verbs either as additional redirects or as other lemmas. DCDuring TALK 01:23, 23 February 2011 (UTC)
- Yep, also "kick the stuffing out of". Mglovesfun (talk) 23:33, 22 February 2011 (UTC)
- It works with other initial verbs, too, as described above in ].—msh210℠ (talk) 23:30, 22 February 2011 (UTC)
- Move to beat the something out of, keeping the redirect. Substitutes for "something" are not just synonyms for "stuffing", "snot", and "crap", but also synonyms for "piss", "fuck", etc. Moreover, many noun phrases can also fit in the "something" slot, eg "beat the living bejesus out of" (52 raw hits at bgc). I suggest that each of the most common variants that are built on one-word synonyms for "stuffing" be made into redirects and that the usage notes at "beat the something out of" suggest that vast range of possible variation. DCDuring TALK 23:18, 22 February 2011 (UTC)
- Delete. Add an extra definition at "stuffing" and I don't see what the problem is. ---> Tooironic 03:46, 23 February 2011 (UTC)
- Keep at least as a redirect; my comments on the subject are at "#beat the crap out of". --Dan Polansky 10:41, 23 February 2011 (UTC)
- Move to something the something out of if kept. --Mglovesfun (talk) 09:53, 19 April 2011 (UTC)
kept, no consensus -- Liliana • 13:08, 11 October 2011 (UTC)