Early "wimp"

Wilson Gray hwgray at GMAIL.COM
Wed Oct 25 18:55:54 UTC 2006


There really are, unfortunately, many annoying (to me) people who say
"whimp," even though they otherwise fail to distinguish "which," from
"witch," etc. Well, what can you do?

As a child, I thought that Fibber & Molly lived on a street named
"Wiss Vo Vista." Of course, the street was actually named "Wistful
Vista."

-Wilson

On 10/25/06, Charles Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Charles Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Early "wimp"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Worth noting that OED gives "wimpish little men in spectacles" from Sinclair Lewis's _Arrowsmith_, 1925.
>
> Searchers should be aware of "whimp" as an occasional spelling--whether or not it indicates an hful pronunciation.
>
> --Charlie
> ___________________________________________
>
> ---- Original message ----
> >Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2006 09:42:39 -0700
> >From: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> >Subject: Early "wimp"
> >To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >
> >
> >George Ade used "wimp" in the '20s, a uniquely early ex. Here's one that comes as the nickname of the milquetoast character "Wallace Wimple" on the very popular _Fibber McGee and Molly_ radio show:
> >
> >  1942 _Fibber McGee & Molly_ (Apr. 7) [modern transcript here:  www.genericradio.com/images/Fibber_Scrap_Drive.pdf ]: Wimple: ...I went down this morning and tried to join the Marines. Sweety-face [his wife] went with me to give her consent.  Fibber: Did they take you, Wimp? ... You mean Sweety-face is in the Marines now, Wimp? ... Go see Doc Coddem, Wimp. ... Naw, we're all finished, Wimp.  [Etc.]
> >
> >  I don't know if the name "Wimp" was broadcast before this episode.
> >
> >  Interestingly enough, HDAS's next ex. of "wimp" comes from an account of the Marines on Guadalcanal published in 1943.  The word is very rare in print before the mid '60's.
> >
> >  Wallace Wimple's voice is more or less identical to that of absurdly retiring and incompetent males in Merrie Melodies cartoons.
> >
> >  JL
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


--
Everybody says, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange
complaint to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
Whoever has lived long enough to find out what life is knows how deep
a debt of gratitude we owe to Adam, the first great benefactor of our
race. He brought death into the world.

--Sam Clemens

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list