Heard on The Judges

Wilson Gray hwgray at GMAIL.COM
Mon Mar 3 19:42:25 UTC 2008


The Judge Greg Mathis Show

Thirty-ish, black, gay, female plaintiff:

"She [thirty-ish, black, gay, female defendant] came on to me, your
honor. She came at me with the _two-aim game_: [1] 'I'm gay, too, I
know how hard life can be for lesbians like us. [2] So, you know that
I'll never hurt you and that you can trust me.'"

Not in Google or in Urban Dictionary.

Judge Greg [addressing the female defendant in a subsequent case]:
"I'm glad to hear that[: that you always dress yourself properly]. You
not ghetto-fabulous. Some people come in here _laid to the bone_,
wearing every Gucci and Louie there is."

"_Laid to the bone_" has been used in BE for "*extremely*
well-dressed" at least since I was but a tad, ca. the 'Forties. Simple
"laid" means "well-dressed."

Not in UD in any meaning, except for "laid" in the usual sexual
meaning. In Google, "laid (to the bone)" as "(very) drunk" or as
undefined - but obviously meaning "well-dressed," in context - in a
quote from Airplane 2.

Jonathon has (1) drunk, from the '60's and '70's (2) well-dressed,
only from the '70's. However, the meaning, "drunk," is *totally*
unfamiliar to me and I was still on the scene in Los Angeles, in those
days. I know that Jonathon can document his dates, so my guess is that
this "drunk" meaning was perhaps regional or something. "Well-dressed"
in the '70's may have been a brief rebirth, since, in my experience,
the term hadn't been used "for days" (meaning "for years," of course),
except by old-heads, like me and Judge Greg, by that time. Hearing it
was definitely a "blast from the past."

"Road Hog" = "Cadillac Sedan de Ville" was popular - hard to say where
it originated, since I heard it in L.A. ca.1969, but I heard it first
from someone who'd recently come from Saint Louis. Naturally, at the
time, it didn't occur to me to ask, "Did you get that here or did you
bring it with you from The Banks (of the Mississippi, where Saint
Louis is located, as bottles of Southern Comfort note) ."


The Judge David Young Show

Fifty-ish, black, male plaintiff:

"I just wanted to be friends, your honor. She shoulda _BIN knowin'_ that!"

Forty-ish, black, female defendant:

"We went to the _money-place_ and I gave him $200.00 out my account."

I, personally, use "money-machine." I have no idea why it's so hard
for us colored folks to learn to say "ATM (machine)," like y'all do.

-Wilson
--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
                                              -Sam'l Clemens

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



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