premack (verb)

[Evan Bradley]

I'm familiar with the noun"mack," as in "mack daddy."

M-W has:
mack daddy
Etymology: argot mac, mack pimp, probably short for obsolete argot
mackerel, from Middle English makerel, from Anglo-French makerelle
procuress, ultimately from Middle Dutch mAkelaer broker
1 slang : a conspicuously successful pimp
2 slang : a slick womanizer
3 slang : one that is the best

Wiktionary adds: "(slang) Hitting on a potential sexual target." Here
it's listed as noun, but I've heard it used as a verb, e.g. " to mack
(on) (someone)". see also "get your mack on"
[ http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=get+your+mack+on ]
[ http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mack ]

In the context of a book about the dating game, I believe Sohn is
referring to the days before Strauss became successful with the
ladies/got in the game.  I don't know how successful David Premack is
in this area, but I doubt it has a connection here.

Evan

On 7/25/07, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
> Subject:      premack (verb)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Not that I recommend the word (or behaviorism), "premack" is new to me and not
> in OED (though David Premack is mentioned in "American").
>
> aldaily.com led me to an article on an economist:
> "Cowen ventures where few economists have gone before; like when he takes on
> Neil Strauss, who theorized in his best seller The Game that attractive women
> respond favorably to men who treat them with indifference. Blarney, says
> Cowen...."
> http://tinyurl.com/yp627h
>
> I read a review of the Strauss book at amazon by Amy Sohn who mentioned the
> "pre-macking" days of Strauss. I didn't know what she meant, and the hyphen
> didn't help (was she thinking of Yiddish Macher, or did she know the
> definition
> but not its eponymous origin?).
>
> Google gives 72 hits for premacking.
>
> The APA Dictionary of Psychology (2007) gives:
> Premack's principle the view that the opportunity to engage in behavior with a
> relatively high baseline probably will reinforce behavior of lower baseline
> probability. For example, a hungry rat may have a high probability of eating
> but a lower probability of pressing a lever. Making the opportunity to eat
> depend on pressing the lever will result in reinforcement of [why not write:
> will reinforce?] lever pressing. Also called Premack's rule. {David Premack
> (1925-       ) U.S. psychologist.}
>
> Stephen
>
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