maybe the easiest way to understand the word drag is how it is used in digital terminology as part of the convenient computing technique known as drag and drop.
drag and drop in two easy steps
the ease of drag and drop misses some of the difficulty of the original idea of drag though, which implies resistance and some difficulty in pulling. in this video, a man drags a shark back into the ocean at australia’s ninety mile beach
dragging is part of one of the most reported news stories in the u.s. this week; sadly yet another instance of a white cop killing a black, unarmed victim. after a traffic stop, university of cincinnati officer ray tensing he shot sam dubose in the head because he was being dragged () by dubose’s car and was afraid he would be run over (smashed by the moving car–also passive voice) from the body camera tensing was wearing doesn’t appear to validate his story.
officer ray tensing (left) claims he thought he would be run over, so he shot sam dubose (right) in the heaad. [wcpo]
stop draggin my heart around, a classic rock duet by stevie nicks and tom petty is about a couple that can’t find a way out of a bad relationship
the reduction of the “g” at the end of draggin’ is common in informal english for all -ing endings.
what dragging someone’s heart around looks like ()
drag has a bunch of other applications too.
drag racing or dragging refers to cars racing on the street, like in the popular movie franchise fast and furious. in this clip, van diesel tells the late paul walker
ihere back in high school
rupaul’s drag race, a reality show competition for transvestites, makes a connection between two different definitions of drag: racing cars and men dressing up like women.
this clip from the flintstones features fred and barney in drag. listen and see if u can understand why
lady gaga‘s hit born this way repeats this line a few times
don’t be a drag, just be a queen
gaga is making the connection between transvestites (also known as drag queens) and irritating or annoying situations that can be referred to as a drags.
a
a song about using prescription drugs to help get through the day
the application of drag as irritating is used by the rolling stones in their song mother’s little helper. this lyric appears 3 times
what a drag it is getting old
the second verse of the song also explains that modern mothers say cooking fresh food for their husbands is a drag (:48 in the video).
and the beastie boys complain about the difficulty of living with your parents when u are a teenager in their classic fight for your right to party
living at home is such a drag
paaaaaaarty!
finally, deacon blues by steely dan at 5:00 says
i take one last drag as i approach the stand.
in this context, drag means one inhalation from a cigarette.
don draper (jon hamm) in a familiar pose from the series mad men; taking a drag
can u drag any other ways to use the word drag into this discussion? which one of these examples is the most useful to help u remember one of the meanings of drag? share your observations under leave a reply
