tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post1091418731597960085..comments2024-03-14T10:31:26.918+00:00Comments on DCblog: On being a tragicDChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10192779827863835310noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-2318665672476774212017-09-30T00:09:55.560+00:002017-09-30T00:09:55.560+00:00I'm neither British or Australian, but my moth...I'm neither British or Australian, but my mother was born in London and I had an Australian girlfriend for a time. The Aussie-style usage of "tragic" is not unknown in the UK in my experience, but the British are much more likely to use "anorak" in a somewhat similar fashion for a person obsessed with a particular subject, sport, team, musical style, musician, etc.Douglas C.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-36886826771865025012013-05-11T12:25:06.933+00:002013-05-11T12:25:06.933+00:00I'm Aussie
I use the expression all the time!...I'm Aussie<br /><br />I use the expression all the time!<br /><br />Football-Tragic<br />StarWars-Tragic<br />Beer-Tragic<br /><br />:P<br /><br />Can use it with anything. As the author noted 'someone who is intensely interested or absorbed in a topic'. Too good!<br /><br />Comment-Tragic<br />:PAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-16895561420832897212010-02-17T12:24:46.767+00:002010-02-17T12:24:46.767+00:00I'm a bit late to the table here but as an Aus...I'm a bit late to the table here but as an Australian who grew up with the development of this term, I think I can help.<br /><br />My understanding of it is thus: when one knows too much about a particular topic, or is a little too interested in one thing (e.g. fashion; sport; cult sketch comedy shows) they are called 'sad'; I suppose in the context of 'a sad case'. It is always simplified to a phrase like 'He's a bit sad - he knows all the winning songs from Eurovision since 1966'.<br /><br />That eventually became 'tragic' because I think we love to change things (I don't know about other English-speaking countries, but I can look back on the 1980s and 1990s and remember little turns of phrase like this that were used heavily at the time but then largely forgotten as we got bored with them and found new ones).<br /><br />So 'sad' becomes 'tragic', and then we place the relevant obsession in front of it to describe what it is the person in question is obsessed over: 'Dan's a complete cricket tragic'. 'Dan' could probably tell you all the players' stats and the outcomes of every major match played this century. (Though interestingly, 'She's a real fashion tragic' can also mean 'she has absolutely no fashion sense'.)<br /><br />I hope that adds a little clarity, even if it is a couple of months late!<br /><br />Cheers,<br />Martina (Sydney, Australia)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-64444551107715996322010-02-15T23:26:07.621+00:002010-02-15T23:26:07.621+00:00I live in Australia (Kyneton, Victoria, a small co...I live in Australia (Kyneton, Victoria, a small country town) i'm 15 and I can't say that I have ever heard the word tragic used this way.Lucashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03560526872821660489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-50778247693513552522009-12-25T08:56:02.364+00:002009-12-25T08:56:02.364+00:00I am Australian and didn't even realise till r...I am Australian and didn't even realise till reading this that no one else uses this expression!<br />I wouldn't say it's exactly common, but most Australians know what it means. I don't think I have ever used it myself, but I certainly have heard it. <br />And I definitely don't think that 'X tragic' is meant in a positive sense, at least not entirely. It's more of a put-down, I suppose. Some people might call themselves 'cricket tragics' with a hint of pride, but I think the main idea is self-deprecating. To refer to oneself as a 'tragic' is to admit, 'Yes, I know it's ridiculous and <b>tragic</b> that I'm so obsessed with this, but I love it anyway.' Depending on who's calling whom tragic, it could be affectionate ribbing or really quite cruel, but there's always the implication that the subject's interest in X is ridiculous.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09679435496565638427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-83103947111491067722009-12-12T00:09:30.380+00:002009-12-12T00:09:30.380+00:00I didn't realise until reading this that X tra...I didn't realise until reading this that <i>X tragic</i> isn't also used in the UK. And I agree that "While it's not necessarily common usage in Australia, I think that most Australians would know what it meant." and that it has been around a decade or two, and not long enough to have made it into the 1980s <a href="http://www.oup.com.au/and" rel="nofollow"><i>AND</i></a>. As an English friend observed to me, the noun <i>comic</i> is somewhat analogous, especially the way it has widened a little from 'comic actor' (from 1619 the <i>OED</i> says).David Nashhttp://www.anu.edu.au/linguistics/nashnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-22262296181316704292009-12-10T08:58:22.036+00:002009-12-10T08:58:22.036+00:00Searching the Google corpus for "Cricket Trag...Searching the Google corpus for "Cricket Tragic" reveals usage in Australia back at least as far as 2001. (There are advanced search options to order by date.) If you were reading the sports pages of the Indian Tribune on September 11, 2001, you would see this reference: <br /><br />Sports-mad Australian Prime Minister John Howard, a self-confessed “cricket tragic’’ <br /><br />While it's not necessarily <i>common</i> usage in Australia, I think that most Australians would know what it meant.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05474026469862640794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-34985238682665022682009-12-09T03:00:21.582+00:002009-12-09T03:00:21.582+00:00Speaking as an Australian, I've never heard of...Speaking as an Australian, I've never heard of it, and suggest that - like many words - it's used almost exclusively by people within certain demographics (e.g. cricket followers, perhaps) and is virtually unknown to the rest of us. <br /><br />(No, despite myth, not all Australians follow the cricket. Some even prefer language blogs!)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-86967640736196946182009-12-08T14:03:46.927+00:002009-12-08T14:03:46.927+00:00I'm with Cha006 on this. I've certainly h...I'm with Cha006 on this. I've certainly heard people in England being called for example .."not just sad, he's tragic". I think comedians would use it. I'd see the word tragic in cricket tragic as being adjectival in origin - cricket mad, cricket sad, cricket tragic.Chris Jacksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07978253406542533377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-56416478150004555462009-12-06T22:00:05.764+00:002009-12-06T22:00:05.764+00:00I haven't heard this use of 'tragic', ...I haven't heard this use of 'tragic', but it chimes with the use of 'sad' to describe someone who has really narrow interests and is perceived to have no life outside them.Patrick McMahonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03503501765193270689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-80136383643884157952009-12-06T06:34:59.566+00:002009-12-06T06:34:59.566+00:00Here's an unbogan Aussie Food Tragic http://st...Here's an unbogan Aussie Food Tragic http://stephenestcourt.blogspot.com/Caroline Bowenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15331273109637700907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-45342192750439042382009-12-06T06:14:50.252+00:002009-12-06T06:14:50.252+00:00Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard is a ...Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard is a self-described ‘cricket tragic’.<br /><br />See, 'Stunned Mullets and Two-pot Screamers: A Dictionary of Australian<br />Colloquialisms' (Fifth Edition)by G.A. Wilkes<br /><br />http://epress.anu.edu.au/ahr/046/pdf/review06.pdfCaroline Bowenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15331273109637700907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-58452286257280523432009-12-05T22:40:00.700+00:002009-12-05T22:40:00.700+00:00Judging by the searches I made on Google, it's...Judging by the searches I made on Google, it's gone well beyond the hillbilly setting now.DChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10192779827863835310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-12322159435266746062009-12-05T19:27:19.308+00:002009-12-05T19:27:19.308+00:00It reminds me a bit of the newer use of the adject...It reminds me a bit of the newer use of the adjective 'massive', which has been turned into a positive (collective) noun - as in, 'don't mess with the Bangor massive'. (Though I haven't checked if it was actually used in a similar sense in 'the olden days'.) Enjoying the use of 'tragic' where we might once have heard the word 'nut'!Pyroclastic Flonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-27134833160647017652009-12-05T17:54:46.446+00:002009-12-05T17:54:46.446+00:00My inquiries have also unearthed a new (to me) use...My inquiries have also unearthed a new (to me) use of ‘sweet’, to mean something like ‘OK, thanks’, as in:<br /><br />-Oh, I don't have a pen. <br />-Here, take mine. <br />-Sweet.Barrie Englandhttp://grammarforgrownups.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-76151246319252583132009-12-05T17:38:13.171+00:002009-12-05T17:38:13.171+00:00This usage has been around in Australia for about ...This usage has been around in Australia for about twenty years but it's mostly used by bogans (think hillbillies). You can basically take it to mean that someone is so into something (usually something you can easily deprecate) that it's a tragic situation.<br /><br />ie "Jimmy's an Oprah tragic".the brown couchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05485588175920906637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-22069274480635546882009-12-04T20:04:29.381+00:002009-12-04T20:04:29.381+00:00I have inquired among Facebook friends and can rep...I have inquired among Facebook friends and can report that it is indeed found in Australia, as in ‘my husband is a cricket tragic', and it has also been heard in at least one English school.Barrie Englandhttp://grammarforgrownups.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-66710455011103411802009-12-04T11:39:35.003+00:002009-12-04T11:39:35.003+00:00John's comment clearly suggests the way in whi...John's comment clearly suggests the way in which the meaning might have developed. When did it happen, though? Was it a young person's usage. to begin with, as with <i>wicked</i> and the others?DChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10192779827863835310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-69035852265702138552009-12-04T11:29:39.289+00:002009-12-04T11:29:39.289+00:00As a noun, I think yes. But as an adjective, it ha...As a noun, I think yes. But as an adjective, it has the usual range of senses.<br /><br />I don't know of any other language which might be used as a source. If anyone has some ideas about this, do let us know.DChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10192779827863835310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-20966386610075325342009-12-04T11:17:28.049+00:002009-12-04T11:17:28.049+00:00A mere "cricket fan" is someone who enjo...A mere "cricket fan" is someone who enjoys watching or playing cricket. But a "cricket tragic" is someone who is so emotionally engaged with their team that a loss, injury, or even an unfavourable umpiring decision can have a significant emotional effect on them. Separating a "cricket tragic" from their game will induce severe withdrawal symptoms - spending time at a Christmas party cowering in a corner with a radio. It can be tragic to witness severe cases.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05474026469862640794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-74286363422721260642009-12-04T10:45:29.809+00:002009-12-04T10:45:29.809+00:00I have never encountered "tragic" in thi...I have never encountered "tragic" in this sense before (native speaker of <Br.E>, early 60s), but suspect that it may be a deliberate extension of the current informal use of "sad" to mean "pitiable" (as in "he's a sad individual : spends his entire life goggling at the box"). In their current formal sense, I think that "sad" and "tragic" form a part of a continuum, so it would not be unreasonable to hypothesise that some Austalian creative speaker had used "sad" as his/her model.Chaa006https://www.blogger.com/profile/00007714578401273047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-70986038072065893462009-12-04T06:23:27.385+00:002009-12-04T06:23:27.385+00:00If the usage may not be recognised in the UK, cert...If the usage may not be recognised in the UK, certainly no chance I should ever encounter it in any form in Armenia, where BrE is what is taught and learned.<br /><br />But I like the usage. Particularly, I entertain the association between the sense of 'someone intensely interested or absorbed in a topic' and the very ending of the word - ic. It remotely reminds me of the remarkable suffix -holic we add to nouns to form nouns expressing like sense.<br /><br />Is 'tragic' used in Australia only in a positive sense? <br /><br />Can't it possibly be a borrowing or imitative usage from another language, Professor?Anniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15784839644389409568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-11274585239873191372009-12-03T22:35:05.986+00:002009-12-03T22:35:05.986+00:00Nothing to do with Melpomene, then?Nothing to do with Melpomene, then?Caroline Bowenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15331273109637700907noreply@blogger.com