squib » squid

Chiefly in:   damp squid

Classification: English

Spotted in the wild:

  • I imagine the excitement will last for another few weeks before it peters out into the damp squid that faced the party before Bas’ well-timed theatrics. (Trinidad & Tobago Express, June 12, 2005)
  • Sadly, I can’t see that happening this year and we have to hope there isn’t a runaway title-win for the Doctor leaving the final quarter of the season a relative damp squid. (superbikeplanet.com)
  • After so much excitement and with fans in awe of the new ground, it turned into a damp squid as Chelsea ran out easy 2-0 winners. (link)

I heard a co-worker use this expression and when questioned it became clear that he and several other people thought that damp squid was correct. Many had not heard of a squib and seemed satisfied in the the logic of a squid being damp. They did not know why a damp squid was failure but did think it was something unpleasant. A quick Google using ‘damp squid’ and excluding squib gave 1760 results.

[There also are examples of “damp squid” being used in a sense somewhat close to “wet blanket”:

  • Hate to be the damp squid but I hope that the low cpu usage doesnt come at the expense of sound quality which the reputation of vas was built on? (link)

C.W.]

[Jeanette Winterson writes:

I laboured long into adult life really believing that there was such a thing as a “damp squid”, which of course there is, and when things go wrong they do feel very like a damp squid to me, sort of squidgy and suckery and slippery and misshapen. Is a faulty firework really a better description of disappointment?

B.Z.]

| link | entered by Sandi, 2005/07/05 |

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