"mink" (n.) = 'a black, a Negro'?

Mon May 11 02:29:28 UTC 2009

I was referring to the following, from George Thompson:
 > >        New-York General Sessions, Nov. 8.  People vs. Beers. --
 > > Beers, a mink-black little negro, and for years an approved waiter
 > > in a most respectable porter-house and tavern in Nassau-street, and
 > > lately a principal actor in the African corps dramatique, was
 > > yesterday tried and convicted of grand larceny.  It has been
 > > suggested that his passion for his new pursuit led him to the deed
 > > for the purpose of obtaining funds to purchase decorations for his
 > theatre.
 > >***
 > >New-York American, November 10, 1821, p. 2, col. 5

Despite Ron's disdain, this seems a very plausible antecedent for a
progression into a noun-use, as in my six years later 1827 "like so
many Mohe-choah Mink in a mud-bank" -- "mink-black negro" to perhaps
"mink black" to "mink" = "a black".

Joel

At 5/10/2009 06:22 PM, RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:
>Oh, come ON!!! I've known white guys nick-named "Mink," and one Korean.
>Putting "Negro" in a dictionary entry for "mink" makes no more sense than
>putting one there for "coal" or "night" or "pitch" or "jaguar." This is just a
>simile, not an etymology.
>
>In a message dated 5/10/09 2:30:08 PM, Berson at ATT.NET writes:
>
>
> > So we have the etymology; now all we need is to have the sense for
> > the noun in the OED.
> >
> > Joel
> >
> > At 5/10/2009 02:16 PM, George Thompson wrote:
> > > > Nothing on my shelf either, at a glance. But there is/was the
> > expression
> > > > "black as a mink", which was used early enough (at G. Books from 1815)
> > > > and which probably accounts for the "mink" allusion.
> > >
> > >         New-York General Sessions, Nov. 8.  People vs. Beers. --
> > > Beers, a mink-black little negro, and for years an approved waiter
> > > in a most respectable porter-house and tavern in Nassau-street, and
> > > lately a principal actor in the African corps dramatique, was
> > > yesterday tried and convicted of grand larceny.  It has been
> > > suggested that his passion for his new pursuit led him to the deed
> > > for the purpose of obtaining funds to purchase decorations for his
> > theatre.
> > >***
> > >New-York American, November 10, 1821, p. 2, col. 5
> > >
> > > > I see a few 19th-century instances of 'black' men named/nicknamed
> > "Mink"
> > > > (?relevance).
> > >
> > >I think I recall a Faulkner character named "Mink" -- he would have
> > >been a white haracter.
> > >
> > >GAT
> > >
> > >George A. Thompson
> > >Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre",
> > >Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.
> > >
> > >----- Original Message -----
> > >From: "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>
> > >Date: Saturday, May 9, 2009 11:39 pm
> > >Subject: Re: "mink" (n.) = 'a black, a Negro'?
> > >To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > >
> > > > Joel S. Berson wrote:
> > > > > ...
> > > > > "At 10Q.M. de moss spiceable brack folk ob stinkation gan show he
> > > > > head from ebery treet and ally, like so many Mohe-choah Mink in a
> > > > mud-bank ..."
> > > > >
> > > > > I presume "mink" here means 'a black/Negro person', from "mink
> > > > > n.1  3.a.  ... thick glossy dark brown fur".  And "mohe-choah" is
> > > > 'mocha' (?).
> > > > >
> > > > > Thus not in OED draft rev. Mar. 2009.  Nor in Chapman or
> > > > > Wentworth/Flexner, the only two American slang dictionaries on my
> > > > poor shelf.
> > > > -
> > > >
> > > > Nothing on my shelf either, at a glance. But there is/was the
> > expression
> > > > "black as a mink", which was used early enough (at G. Books from 1815)
> > > > and which probably accounts for the "mink" allusion. At G. Books I see
> > > > a
> > > > few 19th-century instances of 'black' men named/nicknamed "Mink"
> > > > (?relevance).
> > > >
> > > > I reckon "moch[o]a" is probably right, but I'm not sure why it's used
> > > > here, whether some mink were called "mocha" or whether it's just to
> > say
> > > > "black" again (but "mocha" is/was less dark than "black", right?). My
> > > > OED shows a "mocha" referring to the color of a cat (?relevance).
> > > >
> > > > -- Doug Wilson
> > > >
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