Bootylicious, Frankenfood, and slugs

achy-breaky, adj. Billy Ray Cyrus released the song Achy Breaky Heart in 1992, spawning the term.

Is this actually used outside of references to the song?  Do people say “I’m feeling achy-breaky today”?  If so, it’s eluded my attention (which isn’t at all surprising).

languagehat - 01 July 2012 08:53 AM

achy-breaky, adj. Billy Ray Cyrus released the song Achy Breaky Heart in 1992, spawning the term.

Is this actually used outside of references to the song?  Do people say “I’m feeling achy-breaky today”?  If so, it’s eluded my attention (which isn’t at all surprising).

I do not recall hearing “achy-breaky” other than in reference to the song. The terms “heart-break” and “heart-ache” are firmly entrenched in Country & Western music. It may have been just a matter of time before the phrase was coined in the title of a C&W song.

Interestingly, that is a very simply structured song, consisting of only two cords, A and E. In the fall of 2011, readers of Rolling Stone named it the third worst song of the ’90s, but the crowds still love it.

Frankenfood

That’s a timely one as Tim Burton’s new movie Frankenweenie is just about to go on general release. (If the title in connection with Burton sounds familiar it’s because it’s a remake of his 1984 short, this time with bells, whistles and no doubt the inevitable 3-D.)

I’m surprised achy-breaky met the OED’s guidelines. I, too, am unaware of its use outside that one work.

It surprised me when I first learned that Red = Republicans and Blue = Democrats, as red is the colour more usually associated with the left.