Slang: pitch a tent connection to Pitch-A-Tent record label (1986)

[Margaret Lee]

I remember hearing the phrase "the tent is up" used by black college students in the mid-sixties.
 
--Margaret Lee



--- On Fri, 6/18/10, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:


From: Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Slang: pitch a tent connection to Pitch-A-Tent record label (1986)
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Date: Friday, June 18, 2010, 6:13 AM


I am willing to bet that "pitching a tent" was used in one of the
Porky's movies, which would push it back a bit further, if confirmed.
There seems to be dual context--shorts and sheets, with somewhat
different implications (although both signify an erection). The latter
may explain the original connection to "going commando".

     VS-)

On 6/17/2010 9:59 PM, Garson O'Toole wrote:
> The phrase "pitch a tent" is in some slang dictionaries: New
> Partridge, Cassell's. The available Historical Dictionary of American
> Slang stops at O.
>
> The earliest date of appearance I find given in a dictionary is
> "1990s+". Below is evidence that the record label name Pitch-A-Tent
> (existing by 1986) was chosen with knowledge of the slang expression.
>
> The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2006):
> pitch a tent: to have an erection US
> - Don R. McCreary (editor), Dawg Speak 2001
> http://books.google.com/books?id=mAdUqLrKw4YC&q=%22pitch+a+tent%22#v=snippet&
>
> Cassell's Dictionary of Slang (2005):
> Pitch a tent (in one's shorts) v. [1990s+] (orig US) to get an erection.
> http://books.google.com/books?id=haEfq-nKqjgC&q=pitch-a-tent#v=snippet&
>
>
> Cite: Circa 1988, Musician, Page 97, Issues 117-122, Amordian Press.
> (Google Books snippet view; Unverified; Date, page, and text may be
> inaccurate)
>
> Pitch-A-Tent Records (the name derives from the un-hippie-esque
> phrase, "she makes me want to pitch a tent in my pants") was born,
> Lowery says, "kind of out of necessity: No one was really interested
> in putting out another record by us right then.
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=mT1LAAAAYAAJ&q=%22name+derives%22#search_anchor
>
>
> Cite: 2003, The Rough Guide to Rock 3rd Edition editor Peter Buckley,
> Camper Van Beethoven, Page 166, Rough Guides. (Google Books limited
> view)
>
> For all the plaudits, sales were not huge, and Rough Trade were
> cautious about putting out another album too soon, so CAMPER VAN
> BEETHOVEN II&  III (1986) emerged as an independent release on the
> band's own label, Pitch-A-Tent (a name derived from the phrase 'she
> makes me want to pitch-a-tent in my pants').
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=haEfq-nKqjgC&q=pitch-a-tent#v=snippet&

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