Teeth Sucking?

It's a local way of saying "F*ck you", or a way to show contempt for what you just said.

~Marty 🙂

Good to know!! It would be just my luck for me to actually have something stuck in my teeth and do it to someone unknowingly! 🙂

Hello Angie & Marty,

Shupsing is not the equivalent of F-You or as harsh as contempt, all the time. It has different meanings depending on the context and the participants.

When I was in elementary school we sucked our teeth or shupsed when the teacher gave us homework on weekends or announced a test. At that point it was showing dissatisfaction at something we couldn't really control. And yes the teachers knew what it meant and we got 'in trouble' for it, as it shows disrespect when a child does it to an adult. Kids might do it when a parent tells them to clean their room, wash the dishes or do their homework. It might be followed with "mannnnn" or 'ehhhhh" or "mehson".

Among friends you might hear shupsing if one is telling a story and the other doesn't believe it. Sort of like saying 'Yeah whatever'. That would typically be teeth sucking with a smile and maybe a slight head nod, followed by laughter.

If someone is telling a story about them getting a bum deal the person listening might suck their teeth and say I can't believe that; using it simply to provide a reciprocation of understanding the person's frustration.

Now you have cashiers or sales people that might be irritated by a customer or a question and suck their teeth with a little eye rolling. That’s of course is conveying 'I could care less about you or your question or about helping you'. Or a customer might do it to a salesperson if they aren’t being helpful or giving the answer the customer wants to hear conveying dissatisfaction and irritation.

And if it’s done in a potentially argumentative setting, for example correcting a punky teenager, telling a sales person they are providing terrible service, explaining to someone that you accidentally dropped your drink on them etc. its likely to mean F-off.

🙂

And since we are on the topic, another sound used is Seeping (not sure that’s the spelling). It’s making a pppssssttt sound. It’s usually done to get someone’s attention. Usually by men towards women (known to them or not). Women do it too sometimes. So you might have a friend on one side of the street and you are on the other so you "seep" at them to get their attention. However its typically a man doing it towards a woman they are checking out, so it might go something like 'pppssssst' hey sexy what’s your name?. Some consider it disrespectful.

🙂

Another noise you might hear is when folks have a cold or sore throat. It’s a rasping, repetitive noise made in the throat, followed by multiple croaking noises.

Can't think of any others right now. (tu)

--Islander

Great, in-depth description!