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swish

Thomas1

Senior Member
polszczyzna warszawska
Whether his behavior was an earnest, inept attempt to or a hateful mocking would be hard to say on short acquaintance, and short acquaintances were the only kind he had.

This sentence depicts Bufflo Bill, a psychotic murderer from ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ by Thomas Harris; who flays his female victims to make himself a suit out of their skins.
My question is, what is the meaning of swish here, please?

Thanks in advance,
Thomas
Excellent question, Thomas - I've never heard it and cannot be sure of a guess, even with all this context.

The only use of swish I know implies "posh" - "to be swish" which doesn't quite fit here, where the verb is "to swish"--- unless it means to impress someone in a phoney way?
Hmmmm.

In my estimation, swish here means to act in a particularly effeminite way; in particular, to walk in a manner where one sways the hips to walk in a way that is exaggeratedly female.

Some males, particularly gay males who act very flamboyantly feminine, are often described as "swishy."
@ genjen - well, we are agreed that there is something a bit arificial being implied about BB's behaviour - bu't he never seems at all camp in the film version 👁 Smile :)
suzi br said:
@ genjen - well, we are agreed that there is something a bit arificial being implied about BB's behaviour - bu't he never seems at all camp in the film version 👁 Smile :)
Neither in the book which I'm now trying to read, in the end the film is based on the book. 👁 Smile :)


@GenJen, thanks for your help, I thought it migh mean what you just wrote since I've found swish meaning effeminate but as an adjective and wasn't sure if there was a verb form. Your explanation perfectly fits the context and adds a lot to understanding it in this context, esp. this:
to walk in a manner where one sways the hips to walk in a way that is exaggeratedly female.
Thanks again 👁 Smile :)


One more question, is it very offensive to call a man swishy?
Thomas1 said:
One more question, is it very offensive to call a man swishy?
No, because I don't think he'd know what you were talking about - in the UK anyway.

Here "swish" means glitzy. "Oh what a swish new car!"

I've never heard of swishy.
Thomas1 said:
One more question, is it very offensive to call a man swishy?

Depends entirely on the man and his preferences. I would avoid the term with Hell's Angels members.
Just to be on the safe side, I wouldn't address any man with the term. If you notice these characteristics in a man, it might be better not to mention it; just as you might not want to mention the wart on the end of his nose.

It's not a useful term when speaking to a man, but it might be delicious gossip when talking about one.
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