When Electroluux first marketed their vacuum cleaners in the U.S., their slogan was, "Nothing sucks like an Electroluux!" Apparently, the Swedish-speaking people who created that slogan didn't know that in American slang, "suck" also means "to be bad".
An add like that would never appear in Sweden. It could also mean 'to give head' when said in Swedish. It is an amazing add.
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henhens writes:
I own an Electroluux vacuum. It's pretty good. Why is "sucks" becoming a swear word?
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Rockin' Rudy writes:
"Sucks" isn't a swear word. If something "sucks", that means it isn't good. For example, "That TV show really sucks." You don't live in America, do you?
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Leigh Welch writes:
um suck also means what a vacuum does here.In the (usa) it also means everything else you guys said its just a matter of how you read it.
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crawford writes:
If you look up the word sucks, it says, to draw something in by or as if by exerting a suction force. The tense that you are speaking about is nothing more then the slang form.
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God writes:
You fools!
This is not a slip up. It was a *joke* by the advertising company!
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Cuttle writes:
Electrolux (there's only one "u," by the way) has been selling vaccuum cleaners in the U.S. since at least the early 1930s. The use of "sucks" to mean bad is American teen slang dating from maybe the early 1970s or so at the earliest, and didn't enter mainstream usage until years later (I wish it never had).
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korax1214 writes:
Another firm had an even more unfortunately worded early vacuum cleaner ad; "Don't kill your wife with housework -- let the Hoover do it for you." :-)
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