SPUD acroetymythology (1927)

[Harrold Wilson Gray]

On Sep 7, 2005, at 9:17 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: SPUD acroetymythology (1927)
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> According to the usual sources, 1912 is pretty early for a
> "pronounceable" acronym, and 1927 surprisingly so for a fancied
> acronymic etymology.
>
> It was around 1927 that a minor flurry occurred in _American Speech_
> about whether AWOL was ever pronounced "as a word" (as it usually is
> today).
>
> JL
>
> Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Benjamin Zimmer
> Subject: SPUD acroetymythology (1927)
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> As Dave Wilton has noted, Mario Pei was taken in by a spurious
> acronymic
> derivation of "spud" -- in the 1949 edition of _The Story of
> Language_, he
> claims that "SPUD" is an acronym for "Society for the Prevention of
> Unwholesome Diet" (though this was corrected by the the 1965 edition).
> See
> Wilton's _Word Myths_, pp. 94-5, and also:
>
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0305C&L=ads-l&P=R3243
> http://www.wordorigins.org/wordors.htm
>
> But versions of this etymythology go back at least to the late '20s...
>
> -----
> Chicago Daily Tribune, May 8, 1927, p. VII4/4
> "Isn't It Odd?" by William Atherton Du Puy
> Sir Walter [Scott] also attempted to induce England to adopt the
> potato.
> Queen Elizabeth served it at court at his request. But the _nightshade
> prejudice_ against it was such that organized resistance developed. The
> fact that potatoes are sometimes called spuds is said to have
> originated
> from the initials of a Society to Prevent Unwholesome Diet.

FWIW, "nightshade prejudice" refers to the fact that the potato is a
member of the deadly-nightshade family of plants. Other well-known
members of this family are the tomato, tobacco, the petunia, the sweet
potato, jimson weed. etc.

-Wilson Gray, his mark: X

> -----
> Helena Independent (Montana), Sep. 12, 1928, p. 4/3
> "The Haskin Letter" by Frederic J. Haskin
> There was much prejudice against the potato when it first was
> introduced
> in England. Conservative Englishmen looked askance at America, the
> land of
> the heathen Redman, took umbrage at the introduction of the vegetable
> to
> English tables and felt so keenly about it that they organized a
> society
> in an attempt to prevent further imports. It was called the Society for
> the Prevention of Ungodly Diet. It will be noted that the initial
> letters
> pf this society were S.P.U.D. From that organization we obtain the
> potato's nickname, spud.
> -----
>
> It's quite likely that the SPUD story goes back another decade or so,
> based on the evidence of similar acronymization, playing on the
> long-standing "SPCA":
>
> -----
> New York Times, Nov 15, 1912, p. 22/1
> What is a Spug? According to Mrs. August Belmont, creator of the word,
> Grand Sachem of the Spugs, and guardian of their traditions, a Spug is
> a
> woman who has vowed never again in all her life to give any Christmas
> gift
> that is not offered with a whole heart. ... In other words, a Spug is a
> member of the Society for the Prevention of Useless Giving.
> -----
> Chicago Tribune, Dec 27, 1912, p. 6/2
> Somebody ought to start a Society for the Prevention of Useless
> Drinking
> on the night of Dec. 31. It would save a lot of Spud.
> -----
>
>
> --Ben Zimmer
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> http://mail.yahoo.com
>