Talk:tug one's forelock

RFD 2015

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tug one's forelock

This looks like SOP to me. The further meaning is in the gesture, not the phraseKiwima (talk) 03:37, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

I just thought I would give you a heads up on this: There are quite a few MWEs that are associated with gestures and postures. This is not a fatal criticism: you should stand up for your instincts and beliefs and you can thumb your nose at our conventions, even those of lexicographers generally. (See “thumb one's nose”, in OneLook Dictionary Search..) But I think that the words referring to the gesture stand for the meaning of the gesture.

I seem to recall Equinox having used this expression in a meaningful way, though I misinterpreted it, as it is not an expression that is part of the general lexicon in the US, IMO. DCDuring TALK 10:42, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

I disagree that this should be deleted, because of the cultural meaning. If it means 'to show respect' then it passed WT:CFI#Idiomaticity as not easily derived from the sum of its parts. From which of these three words do you get the meaning 'to show respect'? Renard Migrant (talk) 11:18, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

There are lots of gestures that have cultural meaning - do we define them all? Stamp one's feet (anger), point one's chin (give directions), wiggle one's fingers (silent clapping), put ones arms akimbo (show anger or exasperation)... My own impulse would be to add the phrases that are not clear what gesture one is talking about (e.g. snap one's fingers) or the ones that are used figuratively (tip one's hat, etc). If someone can show me where this phrase falls into one of those two categories, then of course it should stay, but as far as I can tell, it does not. Do people say "I tug my forelock to you"? Kiwima (talk) 19:00, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

I hate to rain on your parade (Not really, I'm having fun.), but it all depends on how they are used. If tug one's forelock is used in speech or writing in a context in which it is virtually impossible that that was literally what took place (Just as I am not literally raining on your parade, I not being a rain cloud and you probably not having a parade.), then that figurative meaning clearly merits inclusion. DCDuring TALK 19:31, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

• Keep per Mglovesfun above. tug one's forelock is defined as "To show respect to someone of a higher class ...", a definition which meets WT:CFI#Idiomaticity. --Dan Polansky (talk) 09:51, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

Point one's chin? Never heard of it, can someone create it, if real? Renard Migrant (talk) 12:53, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

It's only SoP if referring to the physical act (and not to some metaphorical version). I've never seen anyone actually tug their forelock. But it means "to show respect", so keep; cf. "forelock-tugging class traitors" which I just found on Google. Equinox ◑ 13:35, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

I've tweaked the entry a bit, moving the physical gesture to the etymology, and adding figurative citations. Okay? Equinox ◑ 13:43, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

Fair enough, if you have found uses which refer to more than just the physical act, then by all means it should stay.Kiwima (talk) 07:29, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Kept.​—msh210℠ (talk) 03:48, 14 April 2015 (UTC)