i'm sure there's a soccer fan who would love to transect his brain stem
Frog's Design Mind blog points to a piece in the New English review on Soccer and Snobbery, calling out a quote that uses the word "decerebating." As in "The decerebrating effect of football (and no doubt other sports as well) is illustrated by..." blah blah blah.
Huh?
Oh, decerebrating! Of course.
decerebrate -- to eliminate cerebral function by transecting the brain stem or by ligating the common carotid arteries and basilar artery at the center of the pons; an animal so prepared, or a brain-damaged person with similar neurologic signs.
I can think of better ways to decerebrate than by transecting my brain stem. Not sure where I'm going with this, other than of course the guy who uses the word "decerebrating" thinks that sports make us stupid. Jerk.