I got *ragged on* badly

Posted by Rube on May 25, 2004

In Reply to: I got *ragged on* badly posted by Ward on May 25, 2004

": ragged on suggests to me a constant state of being 'picked on' -- one individual verbally demeaning or scolding another on a regular basis. It is a conscious effort by one individual to diminish another, not an accidental or incidental negative remark."

I have to disagree. One can be "ragged on" on an ad hoc basis, as in "Everybody and his brother been ragging on me today."

Actually, I have never heard the phrase used in the sense you describe in your first sentence.

The origin of the slang term necessarily implies a non-constant nature to the ragging. Granted a certain regularity is a part of the original usage, there is certainly no exclusivity.

Which brings me to the fact that your two sentences appear to be unrelated. "...scolding another on a regular basis. It is a conscious effort..." One can make a conscious effort to demean someone verbally (one almost always does) and never speak to them again.

• I got *ragged on* badly ESC 25/May/04
  • I got *ragged on* badly J knows 03/June/04