flog
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English *floggen (suggested by flogge (“hammer, sledge”), from Old English *floggian, a stem variant of Proto-Germanic *flukkōną (“to beat”),[1] itself a secondary zero-grade iterative with unetymological -u-, derived from *flōkaną. The original zero-grade iterative *flakkōną had been misinterpreted as an o-grade. See flack (“to beat”), also as a dialectal noun "a blow, slap". Cognate with Scots flog (“a blow, stripe, flogging”, noun), Scots flog (“thin strip of wood”), Norwegian flak (“a piece torn off, strip”).
Alternatively, a back-formation from flogger, from Low German flogger (“a flail”).
Verb
flog (third-person singular simple present flogs, present participle flogging, simple past and past participle flogged)
- (transitive) To whip or scourge as punishment.
- (transitive) To use something to extreme; to abuse.
- 2002 October 30, Chris Wardrop, “VL idles rough when warm...”, in aus.cars (Usenet):
- I did seven laps of Fyshwick with the mechanic today. I was turning lots of heads on the last few, people must of thought I was nuts, flogging the car then stopping, then driving slow then flogging it again.
- (transitive, UK, slang) To sell.
- 2001 January 26, Paul Edwards, “Optus $5/month 5110, T10 and 2288 only 4 days”, in aus.comms.mobile (Usenet):
- And then there's my part time job at Telstra Bigpond flogging their cable network for just $67.55/month long term cost, a BARGAIN, and the other part time job flogging Foxtel at something like $50/month.
- 2007, Dave Lee (jazz musician), Nothing Rhymes with Silver 2, page 78:
- Flanders was able to flog his piece of land, for which he had originally paid £4,000, to one of the largest gold-mining corporations for something like a couple of million smackers.
- (transitive, Australia, New Zealand) To steal something.
- (transitive, Australia, New Zealand) To defeat easily or convincingly.
- 1999 August 16, Mr Ripper, “Nothing to Crow About”, in rec.sport.football.australian (Usenet):
- The Swannies got on a real roll over rounds 16/17 & 18 of 1987. In consecutive SCG matches, they flogged the Eags 30.21 to 10.11, followed that with a 36.20 to 11.7 demolition of the Dons and finally a 31.12 to 15.17 thrashing of Richmond.
- 2001 June 9, Cas., “Eng v Aus 1977”, in aus.sport.cricket (Usenet):
- Anyone with cable watch this on ESPN "History of Cricket" last night? Australia got flogged by an innings in the fourth test.
- 2004 June 5, Greg Vincent }:c{, “POLISER- Roosters v Bulldogs”, in aus.sport.rugby-league (Usenet):
- It'll make the Raiders look good. Getting flogged by a team that got flogged by a team that got flogged by the Bulldogs.
- (transitive, Australia, agriculture) To overexploit (land), as by overgrazing, overstocking, etc.
- 2007 February 6, “Suppliers the losers in Coles-Woolworths war”, in The Age:
- The environment is paying dearly as producers flog their land. Sustainable agriculture needs a new generation of energised science and technology-trained farmers
- (theater) To beat away charcoal dust etc. using a flogger.
Synonyms
- (to whip or scourge): Thesaurus:whip
Derived terms
Translations
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Noun
flog (plural flogs)
- (Australia, informal, derogatory) A contemptible, often arrogant person; a wanker.
Noun
flog (plural flogs)
- (Internet slang) A weblog designed to look authentic, but actually developed as part of a commercial marketing strategy to promote some product or service.
- 2008, Lucas Conley, OBD: Obsessive Branding Disorder:
- Though a handful of viral videos and flogs have captured significant interest, the vast majority hardly register with consumers.
- 2009, Nico Carpentier, Benjamin De Cleen, Participation and Media Production: Critical Reflections on Content Creation, page 33:
- An element more problematic […] in the move of corporate communications and practices online is the sometimes masked nature of such initiatives, for example through blogola and flogs.
- 2010, Beata Klimkiewicz, Media Freedom and Pluralism:
- […] hidden advertising and flogs (the use of “personal blogs” for unfair commercial and political purposes), […]
References
Icelandic
Etymology
Doublet (showing a-mutation) of flug (“flight; cliff”), from Old Norse flog, flug (“flight; cliff; an illness of the head”), from Proto-Germanic *flugą.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈflɔːɣ/
- Rhymes: -ɔːɣ
Noun
Declension
Related terms
Norwegian Nynorsk
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /floːɡ/
Noun
flog n (definite singular floget, indefinite plural flog, definite plural floga)
- a flight (the act of flying)
- a steep drop, near vertical cliff
References
- “flog” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Volapük
Declension
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | flog | flogs |
genitive | floga | flogas |
dative | floge | floges |
accusative | flogi | flogis |
vocative 1 | o flog! | o flogs! |
predicative 2 | flogu | flogus |
- 1 status as a case is disputed
- 2 in later, non-classical Volapük only
Welsh
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /vlɔɡ/