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Right: Which one of you lot invented 'tw*tdangle', eh?

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Ian Zirins

Twatdangle 

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It was my dad - he was called Heronimus Twatdangle. unfortunately I could not get a job with that name, so I changed it by Deed Poll. I'm an XL in t-shirts BTW

Secretgeek

Unfortunately... 

Happy

..it wasn't me. But I am actively involved in dissemination of the word to everyone I meet (In context obviously, I'm not just shouting 'TWATDANGLE!' at passing strangers.)

M

well 

Happy

It wasn't me but I commented on it at the time and thus embued the commentary with the rich word soup that enables such 'lexical' breakthroughs.

In short, I would love a t shirt.

Mad as a Bat

I for one... 

Coat

... welcome our twatdangling overlords

system

Not entirely new 

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=56121949

20 May 2007 04:25 - you twat dangle! dude if i can russle upm some spare cash...

The page is for the profile of an aussie, and it sounds like an aussie phrase.

Simon Painter

@Ian Twatdangle 

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"It was my dad - he was called Heronimus Twatdangle."

Was he from the Hampshire Twatdangles? I am a bit of an armchair twatdanglologist and have been tracing the family lines back as far as William of Twatdangle in 1337 who was lord of the now lost village of Twatdangle in Somerset.

system

Earlier find 

"twat-dangler" also appears on this page, from september 2006.

http://zeanu.deviantart.com/?offset=1550

JonB

Fantastic.. 

Even the Reg has succumbed to etymological discourse.

Even if it is on the origin of "twatdangle" - a superb word and clearly a vital addition to the language.

Lenny Martin

I invented twatdangle... 

... and so did my wife.

Gav H.

In this context... 

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...I'm sure it was Marcus. It's a good old chuckle-inducing term 'aint it? :)

Dick Lovewell

Now Show related? 

Paris Hilton

Marcus Brigstocke on Radio 4's the Now Show has long referred to the attention-seeking twat as the "Git Wizard", so I wonder if Twat Dangle has been developed from that idea?

I'm not sure if I want Blaine simply ignored so we don't have to put up with his 8-year-old style showy-offy "look at me!" antics, or if he should be continued to be publicised in order to remind the world what an utter utter twat he is.

And if he's such a tough guy, how comes he's so scared of getting a little pee over himself?

Paris...because she's not scared of making her juices public.

Anonymous Coward

Quick... 

Happy

...Email Victoria Coren (of Balderdash & Piffle) and put her to work finding the origins.

Would love to see this in the OED try to turn this gem down!

Martin

Where's the freaking IT angle then? 

Happy

if I promise not to ask where is the IT angle (as you seem to be quite sensitive about it) can I have a T shirt?

Anonymous Coward

I'm Sparticus...! 

Oh, sorry wrong thread.

James Pickett

Fussy 

I'd love a T-shirt, but only if it's got a picture of the old twatdangler himself, taken during the few seconds that he was actually inverted.

I'd still like to know what happened to the advertised catheter, too...

Mike Crawshaw

@SecretGeek 

Happy

"But I am actively involved in dissemination of the word to everyone I meet (In context obviously, I'm not just shouting 'TWATDANGLE!' at passing strangers.)"

I've found that shouting "TWATDANGLE!!!" at passing strangers is actually quite fun. I recommend it.

Ad Fundum

Does it deserve wider use? 

Sureley a word as cunning, descriptive and downright fun to say out loud as "twatdangle" deserves a wider use than simply refering to David Blaine hanging upside in NY - in fact, a much more banal term would be more fitting for him ("cockstrung", "knobstrung" sping to mind) leaving "twatdangle" free to refer to something much more fun and be more widely used.

How about "twatdangle: to leave someone who is unworthy or a response waiting; to fail to return a call, text, email or subpoena depsite promising to."

http://adfundum.wordpress.com

Simon

It must be Friday! 

Go

Yep, this reads like a Friday article.

I'm going to bookmark this comments page and check back as the Friday slackers debate a new word destined to end up in the Oxford English Dictionary (Well in the online version at least).

The same dictionary rag that included the word(s) "Girl Power" FFS!

Yeah, send me the T-shirt and another one for my wife, ta. Don't forget to wrap it around a brand new Laptop as well.

Tony Chandler

I'm confused 

Firstly, despite succesfully introducing the expression "cock-waving battle" into a couple of El Reg comment boards, I can't claim the excellent "twatdangle".

Secondly: "We want the name, email addy and inside leg measurement of the scoundrel"

Inside leg measurement? Is he expected to wear his free t-shirt upside down and over his legs like a pair of shorts?

tranquil

As I recall; 

Go

Marcus came up with 'David Blain: Freek Dangle' as alternate name for 'Above the Bellow' or whatever it was called, when he was hanging over the thames.

It was on The Now Show on Radio 4, and is available as part of the 'best of' compilation that I brought on 7Digital a couple of years back.

Richard

It was nearly me... 

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My email address, (which due to a dislike of spam I won't disclose) is nearly very close to 'twatda*gle'.

Honest

Richard

I'm Spartacus! 

Coat

Actually no, I can't back that up.

I free T-shirt would be nice though, perhaps then I can stop wearing this barrel with suspenders the guv'ment left me with.

Simon C

Tw*tdangle 

Wasn't me I'm sad to report.

However, may I put forward the aforementioned activity for a new competition in the London 2012 Olympics

Problem is Britain would have an unfair advantage, we have plenty of tw*ts we'd like to see dangle.

Dave Gregory

Marcus Brigstocke 

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well known and utterly brilliant comic, called the first stunt "above the below" freakdangle, this is surely just a logical continuation. He also christened David Blaine "Gitwizard extrodinaire."

Send him a shirt too!

Chris Richards

nor was it me... 

Coat

...but along with other commentards I'm all for the twatdangler icon!!

(in addition to the coffee + keyboard icon).

I know there's a specific story for suggesting icons, but I'm not yet bored enough to search for it.

Mine's the one with kebab meat in one pocket and a pitta in the other.

JCL

Post anonymously? 

Heart

god, isn't Friday great?

Steve Oliver

Twatdangle... 

Coat

... is that what happens right before a queening?

Mine's the one with the balaclava in the pocket.

vale

I like it.... 

Heart

I like it. I didn't post on the article but I feel that my new purpose in life(this weekend) is to replace any insulting words I may use with "twatdangle" or "twatdangler". Therefore I feel that my purpose to the reg and to the world is fulfilled for the weekend.

I think that is a perfect justification for a free t-shirt!

twat

Twasnt me 

But I thought Id register this user id before someone else go there first

Twat Dangler

Jeff Rowse

What is a twatdangle? 

Way back when I was an Electronics Apprentice (mid-80's) , I was told that the shrinking rubber-ish sleeves we used to hold bundles of cables together were called "twats". So would that make a twatdangle the hook where you hang this stuff?

Ivan Headache

Twasn't me 

But the first time I heard it was on Radio 4's "The Now Show" during one of Marcus Brigstock's tirades against Blaine (or was it BT broadband?).

MB has had this 'thing' about Blaine for quite a long time so it probably is his invention. Wikipedia has a quote from MB dated 2003 about the London dangle.

I have a feeling that twatdangle came in a piece that MB did after Blaine's failed underwater stunt in 2006.

Anonymous Coward

There is nothing new under the sun.. 

IT Angle

Clearly Twatdangle has prior art but no clear provenance leading to an individual or individuals who might reasonably be able to support a valid claim of ownership. To prevent ambit claims that might otherwise deprive the community of free and unrestricted use of Twatdangle, the entities operating jointly and severally as The Register must register Twatdangle and grant everyone, in perpetuity, the right to reproduce Twatdangle in any medium, at any time, and in any context so long as proper attribution is made, adjacent to the reproduction and in a legible typeface of no less than 24 points, identifying the rights holder as The Register and David Blaine as the archetypal dangled twat.

IT? In remembrance of those old Segway teasers dangled twatishly before us only to reveal that IT was, in the end, an old people's skateboard. Twatdanglers fondle our dreams inappropriately and puncture our hopes with little pins.

Joe

Tw@tdangle merchandise? 

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Wouldn't mind a shirt of Blaine on a rope with 'TW@tdangle' on it

JonB

ISP Contracts. 

You sign up, the connection goes crummy and then you're stuck on a contract with them for another 11 months.

Woe is you for you are left twatdangling.

Storm Cloud

Icon please 

Black Helicopters

As "twatdangler" can be applied to a vast number of people fronting the IT industry, can I suggest that when I vent my spleen towards them here, that I be given a suitable twatdangling icon to visually enhance my eloquent prose. Mind you the one I'm using now isn't too wide of the mark as it look a bit like a muff on a string!

Mark C

It's a living language 

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We all (the collective hive mind) invented it .... T-shirts all round!

Random Musings Of A Mad Person?

I'd like to put forward the word NoITAngle too.. 

IT Angle

How about using the word NoITAngle (pronounced Noit-angle) for articles posted on the Register without an IT related content in them?

James

@ system 

Paris Hilton

If it was indeed Marcus Brigstocke commenting upon 'Above the Below' then the phrase would have been coined in 2003. Hence some references to this latest stunt as Twat Dangle Part 2.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/twat_dangle

So if twat dangle is the event then is the person doing it a dangle-twat or a dangletard?

Paris, cos she doesn't have a cunning stunt either!

Anonymous Coward

Twatdangle.com is already gone :( 

Godaddy has them :(

David Jones

http://twatdangle.com/ 

Paris Hilton

Pleased to see this had already been registered. Surely this goes even further in legitimizing the use of the word. Now if we can just get a wikipedia entry...

Paris, becuase I would as long as there were no cameras nearby

Law

I was... 

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.. tw@tdangling bad guys in Starwars: Force unleashed last night.... very entertaining... I wish I was a dark jedi in real life though, I could levitate and choke the life out of the tw@tdangler known as Blain - weak pathetic fool!!

Oh - I think I deserve a tshirt btw - you have finally killed the magic of mary poppings, superman, starwars, and spiderman with the term tw@tdangler... I'm not going to be able to see any of them without screaming it out now!! DAMN YOU EL-REG!! *shakes fist*

*thumbs up icon - mid-tw@tdangling ofcourse!*

Anonymous Coward

I want to 

Coat

congratulate the inventor if you find them - it's a brilliant word and I am changing all my passwords to it as soon as possible, as well as yelling it at cyclists who jump red lights or ride on the pavement when I'm trying to get home (well, ok, to the pub)

Mine's the one with the £5 M&S voucher in the pocket

Andy G

@ Joe 

Coat

yup, i want a t-shirt with "Desk Rabbit" on the front of it.

oh, and my ex from many years ago had one helluva Tw*tdangle !! does that count???

stu

TwatDangle dictionary Definition 

Twatdangle

-verb (used with object)

1. to pursue some pointless exercise that demonstrates no abilities other than the ability to twatdangle.

2. to pursue pointess activity for sustained periods eg they twatdangled the fucking( see to fuck) day away.

–verb (used without object)

8. to make a living from the act of twatdangling (see Manager).

–noun

9. A pointless exercise eg "this is a total fucking twatdangle"

10. A poorly executed endeavour eg " this is a total fucking twatdangle" (ref clusterfuck)

11. a group of persons associated for the purpose of hunting; an association of hunters.

[Origin: circa. 2008; (v.) used to descibe pointless media tosspot David Blaine's pathetic and pointless excercise of hanging upside down. ]

—Related forms

Twat.dang.el.ing, adverb

Twat.dang.el.er , adjective - he is a total twatdangler

Twat.dang.led, adjective - fucked up

—Synonyms 1. Oxygen thief, waste of fresh air, clusterfuck, FUBAR.

Anonymous Coward

Twangler 

Joke

We could even shorten TwatDangler to Twangler.

Twangler (n) Tw-angler -

Blaine, David

Aged Woman with Gravity issues

Any total knobend that pisses you off!

...

Add your own meaning here.

Sascha

Personally... 

Joke

... I prefer to refer to David Blaine's last stunt as a douche piñata.

Chris Matchett

Urban Dictionary 

Coat

"Your search - twatdangle site:urbandictionary.com - did not match any documents. "

However 'dangle twat' is there already but I won't pay lip service to that.

I think I was the first to say 'twatdangler'. Can I have a sleeve please?

Matt Bradley

I feel so privileged 

Coat

It is one thing to put new an interesting word into use, but the sheer privilege of being right here, now, at the BIRTH of a new word, watching it take flight (we've got it's OED entry right here), is a joy which makes my heart fill to bursting.

Remember, friends, when you use the word "twatdangle" in your old age; that you were here, right now, at the very frontline of our bold and free language, and rejoice!

Hans

Etymology again 

Quote: "and an agent noun (twatdangler")"

I'm no exspurt on English but I'm not convinced that the verb to "twatdangle" begets this alleged agent noun. I can think of many who could be described as "twatdanglers" i.e. those who dangle twats, who do not necessarily pursue the art of twatdangling in the context of Blaine-like stunts.

Maybe this ought to be clarified by someone better than I. Or should that be better than me? See what I mean, now?

P.S. Are we allowed to use the word "stunts" here, being before the watershed and all?

system

@James 

Didn't realise he was supposed to have made the comments that far back. The article seems to imply the word is new, with lines like "within hours of its coining", and I didn't read the comments from the other article.

I think we can rule out any possibility of it being created in the comments recently though.

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