BORED IN SKULL – Austrian Phrase of the Week
Fad im Schädel: Best illustrated by possible exchange between two college freshmen:
Girl: (Contemplating if a hammer or strong tug would be more effective) Whatever possessed you to put a flower pot on your head in the first place?
Guy Who Looks Like Devo Band Member Wannabe: (assuming he is somewhat honest, self-aware or alcohol is making him brutally so): It’s not a flower pot, it’s an energy dome and “es war mir fad im Schädel.“
Devo rock band
It was to him boring in his skull. Meaning? He was so bored out of his mind, that some primitive part of his brain deduced that acting like an idiot was a more preferable state of being. (and don’t get the guy version of hissy-fit on me guys – man up and simply admit it’s definitely a guy syndrome).
Still in denial? Staple gun battles with the guys in the barracks. Tasering-just-for-fun amongst police colleagues. The who-can-hold-onto-the-electric-fence-the-longest cowboys. Th red-hot-chilli-pepper-eating contest because the poker game needed higher stakes.
The popularity of the Fad-im-Schädel Poster Children — MTV’s “Jackass” stars – was perhaps predictable. The Youtube Nightline clip of the show features the byline “Really Bored Dudes on ABC’s Nightline.” Nightline’s lead-in question: “But why are they doing all that?” Seriously Nightline? Just because the English language hasn’t yet adopted fad im Schädel, doesn’t mean English-speaking guys are any less afflicted. The phrase is bound to make it into the American Heritage (or its equivalent) sooner or later, just an entry above Schadenfreude, which is what the ladies experience when the chilli pepper pain is difficult to quench, the staple guns leave their wounds, the tasers hit an unintended mark, or the flower pot demands professional assistance for removal.
This is obviously an international phenomena that also strikes British men as well – check out what this guy got up to while the Mrs. was away: Aycliff man who stole woman’s knickers was bored because wife was away at dog shows, court told – the thoroughness of the roving news reporter’s tenacity for fact-finding is impressive. Lizzie will stop at nothing to get every detail into her knicker caper article – even the exact color of the knickers (yellow).
The school boys in the painting featured here are all suffering severe boredom in their skulls as their teacher dozes away their lesson.
Everything you never wanted to know about the Jackass series on Wikipedia.
And – because you know you are dying for it: Devo’s Whip It Video.
