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Asked by Bruce Horst 287 days 10 hours ago.

Is the phrase 'crying uncle' and American phrase or is it known internationally?



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Just curious. With the current request to help Mad Uncle Mordechai finish his Master's Thesis, I have to wonder if anyone outside of the USA will understand the statement "I cried 'Uncle!'

Answers to this question:
» Answer from Abolghasem Rajabi Answer given 286 days 23 hours ago.
I didn't know but as I searched It is an Idiom


say / cry uncle, Informal . to concede defeat: They ganged up on him in the schoolyard and made him say uncle.


http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/uncle


Persian when one is going to concede defeat will yell Maman! means he will ask his Mommy to help him. it is a situation that one returns to childhood. feels defenseless and frightened. It is a crime I think. The offenders and observers who describe situation will say "pedaresho dar avordim". it literally means "we extracted his father".

I didn't succeeded in opening the link you have sent. The link doesn't open.

» Comment from Bruce Horst Comment made 286 days 13 hours ago.
Yep, that's what it means. I think it's a pretty funny way to represent telling others about Mad Uncle Mordechi's survey.

Are you saying that the link to the survey isn't working for you? Greg assures me that there are no blocks on that website.

» Comment from Abolghasem Rajabi Comment made 286 days 1 hour ago.
it always shows this:

The connection has timed out













The server at laboratory.popgnosis.com is taking too long to respond.







The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few

moments.

If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer's network

connection.

If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure

that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.
» Answer from Hilda Cang Answer given 286 days 13 hours ago.
If you didn't mention, I don't think I'll ever find out. One thing I have actually joined the Mad Uncle but so far haven't received my badge yet. haha.

» Comment from Bruce Horst Comment made 286 days 13 hours ago.
Hilda, have you done the survey? The link is under the announcements on the home page.

» Comment from Hilda Cang Comment made 286 days 13 hours ago.
Oh, I see. I only filled out details of my age , sex and location. I am going to log in there. Thanks Bruce for the info.

» Answer from Jennifer Stewart Answer given 275 days 8 hours ago.
I've never heard of it, Bruce. I thought you were just being literal - as in shout out the name! I wonder what the origins of the saying are. Why "uncle"? Off I go to Google...

» Answer from Jack H. Schick Answer given 253 days 16 hours ago.
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-say1.htm

» Answer from Rahaman Onike Answer given 251 days 9 hours ago.
The phrase crying uncle is a restrictive usage.It has not gained international acceptability compared to its popularity in the united states.

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