Jeep Bibliography -- (information from Jonathan Lighter)

Wed Sep 22 13:54:41 UTC 2010

Nice work, Dave.

The 1938 application of "jeep wagon" to a tank is especially germane -
though in what way precisely is unclear. Cf. the quoted use of "wombat"
(also unique) with that of "jeep":  both are interpretable as exotic, even
mysterious, animals with appropriately bizarre names.

Real wombats must have been far more exotic in '30s America than today when,
I suspect, most Americans still have no idea what a wombat is. (Appropos
perhaps is a friend who applies the word to nitwits. I first heard him do so
in the early '80s but have never heard it from anyone else.)

JL

On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 9:25 AM, Dave Wilton <dave at wilton.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Jeep Bibliography -- (information from Jonathan Lighter)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I did this summary some years back:
> http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/more/372/
>
> It contains some early cites of military use that are not in reference to
> the 1/4 ton truck.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of
> Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 9:15 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Jeep Bibliography -- (information from Jonathan Lighter)
>
> The auto address feature of Gmail impishly sent this to Michael 30 secs.
> ago, but I meant it for everyone:
>
>
>
> Michael's treatment is probably the best summary I've seen.  The quotation
> from Liberman is applicable to more than just etymology. (Try the JFK
> assassination, for example.)
>
> Some minor comments:  though the jeep was officially (and hence inevitably)
> decribed
> as a "1/4-ton" vehicle, the quarter-ton refers not to its weight, as any
> ordinarily intelligent person would assume, but to its "payload," the
> weight
> it could carry in addition to the driver and passengers. (The actual weight
> of the "1/4-ton truck" was over 2,000 lbs.)  The same principle goes for
> the
> "1/2-ton" command car, also called a "jeep" but otherwise a different
> design.  Needless to say, whether the larger car received the nickname
> before or after the smaller and more famous may not be determinable -
> presumably after, but only presumably.
>
> The initials "GP" were indeed used during WWII by the Army (and probably
> the
> other services) to abbrev. "general purpose," but in my experience this
> initialism was applied only to aerial bombs and never, in ordinary usage,
> to
> the jeep. In fact, the application of "GP" to bombs seems to have been
> almost universal among bomber crews in the AAF; thus, unshakable faith in
> "GP" as the etymology of "jeep" may have originated there.
>
> Except for some people at Ford, virtually no one would have cared about the
> company's cryptic "GP" designation of the vehicle; mechanics would
> certainly
> have seen (though not necessarily thought about) the designation which was
> embossed (though not explained), along with far more interesting and
> important specs, on the metal specification plate affixed to the dashboard.
>
>
> Also, I suspect that the early figurative uses of "jeep" took two paths.
> One
> (as applied to people) was disparaging, comparing them to a weird little
> animal. The other, applied to material objects was chiefly that of novelty.
> (Cf. _whatchamacallit_.)  This seems logical because the gist of the
> originating Popeye cartoons was that the meaning of the word "jeep" was a
> complete mystery. The next implied riddle was the nature of the Jeep
> himself.  What exactly was he?  There was no real explanation beyond
> "magic."
>
> I fantasize the arrival, for testing, of the prototype vehicle in a big
> crate.  Somebody says, "What's in the box?" Somebody else says, "The Jeep."
>
> (The fantasy works, mutatis mutandis, for arrival under a tarp as well.)
>
> On Tue, Sep 21, 2010 at 10:39 PM, Gerald Cohen <gcohen at mst.edu> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Gerald Cohen <gcohen at MST.EDU>
> > Subject:      Re: Jeep Bibliography -- (information from Jonathan
> Lighter)
> >
> >
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---
> >
> > It seems clear that a comprehensive treatment of =B3jeep=B2 might be in
> > order,
> > and as a very
> > preliminary step towards this goal I now forward an exchange of e-mails I
> > had
> > today with Jonathan Lighter (in reverse chronological order).  My thanks
> to
> > Jonathan for his helpfulness in this.
> >
> > Gerald Cohen
> >
> >
> > From: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:00:56 -0400
> > To: "Cohen, Gerald Leonard" <gcohen at mst.edu>
> > Subject: Re: Jeep Bibliography
> >
> > Posting to the list=A0would be fine.
> > =A0
> > I'm sure Mencken=A0offers a brief=A0discussion, though if it were
> > significant
> > I'd have cited it.
> > =A0
> > Many of the HDAS cites will seem gratuitous to some, but I think they all
> > contribute something tangible to the entire picture.
> > =A0
> > I also suggest in the ety. note in HDAS that the cartoon Jeep's
> > inarticulat=
> > e
> > cry of "Jeep! Jeep!" may have been sugg. by the "Cheep! Cheep!"=A0of
> > cartoon
> > birds.=A0Just a guess, of course.
> > =A0
> > Jon
> >
> > On Tue, Sep 21, 2010 at 11:47 AM, Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at mst.edu>
> > wrote:
> > >=20
> > > =A0 Thanks, Jon. I'd like to share your message below with the other
> > ads-l
> > > members; I'm sure at least several will be interested in it. =A0Unless
> I
> > he=
> > ar
> > > from you to the contrary, I'll do so this evening.
> > >=20
> > > =A0 Also, maybe a comprehensive treatment of "jeep" based on your
> > bibliogra=
> > phic
> > > references would be a possibility. =A0I don't have time for this myself
> > at =
> > the
> > > moment, but perhaps I could find an interested student assistant who
> > woul=
> > d
> > > like doing this as a semester task.
> > >=20
> > > Best. --- Jerry
> > >=20
> > > ________________________________
> > >=20
> > > From: Jonathan Lighter [mailto:wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com]
> > > Sent: Tue 9/21/2010 10:12 AM
> > > To: Cohen, Gerald Leonard
> > > Subject: OT: Jeep Bibliography
> > >=20
> > > Jerry, I can't find my specific notes for the comments in the Atlantic,
> > b=
> > ut
> > > below are the expanded references from HDAS. I think it's much too long
> > a=
> > nd
> > > specialized for the posting to the List.
> > >=20
> > > Not quoted but very valuable for its technical history of the vehicle
> is
> > > =A0David Fetherston, Jeep. Osceola, Wis.: Motorbooks, 1996.
> > > I wonder if newspaper databases of 1936-41 would reveal anything new
> and
> > > significant.
> > >=20
> > > Best,
> > >=20
> > > Jon
> > >=20
> > > SOURCES
> > >=20
> > > Berent, Mark. Rolling Thunder =A0N.Y.: Jove Books, 1989, p. 63.
> > >=20
> > > Berrey, Lester V., and Melvin Van den Bark. The American Thesaurus of
> > Sla=
> > ng,
> > > with Supplement. N.Y.: Crowell, 1947. =A0Supplement, p. 32.
> > >=20
> > > Blackburn, Tom. The Jolly Rogers. N.Y.: Orion, 1989. P. 87.
> > >=20
> > > Boehm, Sydney. Union Station. Film, 1950.
> > >=20
> > > Cannon, Jimmy. Nobody Asked Me, But. . . . Ed. J. Cannon and T. Cannon.
> > N=
> > .Y.:
> > > Penguin, 1983. =A0P. 312.
> > >=20
> > > Current Slang (U. of South Dakota) V (Summer), p. 16.
> > >=20
> > > Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Notebooks of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ed. M. J.
> > > Bruccoli. N.Y.: Harcourt, 1978. P. 297.
> > >=20
> > > Gingrich, Newt, and William =A0Forstchen. 1945. Riverdale, N.Y.: Baen,
> > 1995=
> > . P.
> > > 379.
> > >=20
> > > The Great Music of Duke Ellington. Melville, N.Y.: Belwin-Mills, 1973.
> > P.=
> >  133.
> > >=20
> > > Hamann, Fred. Air Words. Seattle: Superior, 1946.
> > >=20
> > > Honey, John. The Wing Will Fly. Discovery Channel TV, 1991.
> > >=20
> > > Kahn, E. J. Army Life. =A0 N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, 1942. =A0P. 136.
> > >=20
> > > Kendall, Park. =A0A Dictionary of Army and Navy Slang, by Park Kendall
> > and
> > > Johnny Viney. N.Y.: Mills, 1941.
> > >=20
> > > Kisseloff, Jeff. You Must Remember This. San Diego: Harcourt, 1989.
> =A0P.
> > 6=
> > 4.
> > >=20
> > > LeVier, Tony, and John Guenther. Pilot. =A01954; rpt. N.Y.: Bantam,
> 1990.
> > =A0=
> > P.
> > > 86.
> > >=20
> > > Linnekin, Richard. Eighty Knots to Mach 2. Annapolis: U.S. Naval
> > Institut=
> > e
> > > Press, 1991. P. 96.
> > >=20
> > > Lockwood, Charles A. Lockwood. Zoomies, Subs, and Zeros. N.Y.:
> Greenberg,
> > > 1956. P. 9.
> > >=20
> > > Loosbrock, John F., and Richard M. Skinner. The Wild Blue : The Story
> of
> > > American Air Power. N.Y.: Putnam, 1961. =A0P. 269.
> > >=20
> > > McCloskey, R. J. "Jeep." American Notes & Queries (Dec., 1943), p. 176.
> > >=20
> > > Morison, Samuel Eliot. History ofUnited States Naval Operations in
> World
> > =
> > War
> > > II. Vol. X. =A0Boston: Little, Brown, 1956. P. 41
> > >=20
> > > "Nation Begins Creeping Mobilization..." =A0Life (July 24, 1950), p.
> 32.
> > >=20
> > > Randolph Field: A History and Guide. N.Y.: Devin-Adair, 1942. P. 77.
> > >=20
> > > Sagendorf, Bud. Popeye: The First Fifty Years. N.Y,: Workman, 1979. P.
> > 88=
> > .
> > >=20
> > > [VMF-323 U.S. Marine Corps]. "A Collection of Old American Ballads."
> > =A0Unp=
> > aged
> > > TS., 1953 [inaccurately dated "1951" in HDAS].
> > >=20
> > > Weinberg, Robert E., et al. eds. Tough Guys & Dangerous Dames. N.Y.:
> > Barn=
> > es &
> > > Noble, 1993. P. 6.
> > >=20
> > > HDAS also cites the following periodicals. I did not note authors and
> > tit=
> > les
> > > of articles:
> > >=20
> > > American Notes & Queries (Jan, 1944), p. 156.
> > >=20
> > > American Speech (Oct., 1941), p. 166, XX (1945), p. 261, XXIX (1954),
> p.
> > =
> > 260,
> > > XXXVII (1962), p. 77.
> > >=20
> > > Army Ordnance (July, 1941), p. 79
> > >=20
> > > The Infantry Journal (July, 1941), p.68.
> > >=20
> > > The Leatherneck (June, 1942), p. 59.
> > >=20
> > > The National Geographic Magazine (July, 1941), p. 25.
> > >=20
> > > New York Times (Feb. 22, 1941) p. 8.
> > >=20
> > > New York Times Magazine (July 2, 1944), p. 38.
> > >=20
> > > Saturday Evening Post (July 16, 1938), p. 16; (May 30, 1942), p, 67.
> > >=20
> > > The Smithsonian (Nov., 1992), p. 63.
> > >=20
> > > Washington [D.C.] Daily News =A0(Feb. 20, 1941), p.12.
> > >=20
> > > Yank-The Army Weekly =A0(Nov. 11, 1942), p. 4, (May 7, 1943), p. 14.
> > >=20
> > >=20
> >
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