Mystery of "mungo" (from Van Lingle Mungo?)

[Wilson Gray]

You dodged a bullet on that one, Jon!

-Wilson

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>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM
>Subject:      Re: Mystery of "mungo" (from Van Lingle Mungo?)
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>Then there's the mysterious Planet Mongo and its villainous ruler,
>Ming the Merciless, big deals in Flash Gordon serials of the '30s.
>
>A personal note.  I used to wonder how Mungo Park got such a cool
>name.  In high school I was tempted to tell people to "call me
>Mungo."  Never did though.
>
>JL
>
>Your Name <jimsmuse at COMCAST.NET> wrote:
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>Sender: American Dialect Society
>Poster: Your Name
>Subject: Re: Mystery of "mungo" (from Van Lingle Mungo?)
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>Larry mentioned Mungojerrie from T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of
>Practical Cats", and Mr Gray mentioned the British pop-band but I'm
>fairly sure that Eliot lifted the cat's name from a certain Mungo
>Park (1771 - 1806), a Scotsman famous (well in Scotland anyway) for
>his African explorations. How that all translates to the discussion
>of the word "mungo" itself I don't know, but thought I should
>mention the only "Mungo" I am aware of that did not record a cheesy
>70s pop hit.
>
>Carrie Lowery
>jimsmuse at comcast.net
>
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>>  Sender: American Dialect Society
>>  Poster: Laurence Horn
>>  Subject: Re: Mystery of "mungo" (from Van Lingle Mungo?)
>>
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>>  >>>I think this may answer the question. If the term is "mungo," and if it's
>>  >>>from the 1930s, and if it's from Brooklyn, all signs point to a
>>  >>>spread from the
>>  >>>Brooklyn Dodger pitcher Van Lingle Mungo. Was he known for
>>throwing garbage
>>  >>>pitches?
>>  >>>...
>>  >>He started out as a fastball pitcher, but evidently threw out his arm
>>  >>and tried (unsuccessfully) to come back as a junkballer. See
>>  >>http://www.thedeadballera.com/BadBoneMungo.html
>>  >>
>>  >>larry
>>  >
>>  >And then there's the one-hit wonder of the ca. late '60's-early
>>  >'70's, Mungo Jerry.
>>  >
>>  >-Wilson Gray
>>
>>  and wasn't that name borrowed from the eponymous feline ("I might
>  > mention Mungojerrie/I might mention Griddlebone") from T. S. Eliot
>  > "Old Possum's Book of Cats" (who later made it onto the Broadway
>  > stage)?
>  >
>  > larry
>
>
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