"Poon tang" in the Philippines?

[Douglas G. Wilson]

On 4/11/2012 11:43 PM, Ben Zimmer wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society<ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Ben Zimmer<bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "Poon tang" in the Philippines?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 10:57 PM, Douglas G. Wilson wrote:
>> ----------
>> _Philadelphia [PA] Tribune_, 7 Feb. 1953: p. 12:
>> <<Okeh announces forthcoming Fletcher Peck waxing of "Moon Dog," backed
>> by "Poon Tang." If the people who censor record titles have ever been
>> GI's in the Philippines, they'll have to withdraw the latter title too.>>
>> ----------
>> _Afro-American_ [Baltimore MD], 14 Feb. 1953: p. 7:
>> <<But, Fletcher Peck's "Moon Dog" and "Poon Tang," satires on GI's in
>> the Philippines, might get the censors' hatchet.>>
>> ----------
>>
>> Of course there were plenty of GI's in the Philippines throughout most
>> of the 20th century. But it seems as though somebody thought the
>> expression "poon tang" had a particular connection to them.
>>
>> Anybody familiar with the music in question?
> Fletcher Peck may have written it, but The Treniers (aka The Trenier Twins)
> performed it. Wilson mentioned the song a few years ago:
>
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0702C&L=ADS-L&P=R3485
>
> Here it is on YouTube:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OiQwV-b6a4
--

Thanks.

I noted the Treniers song (tangentially) a few years back myself ...

http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0407D&L=ADS-L&P=R9977&1=ADS-L&9=A&I=-3&J=on&d=No+Match%3BMatch%3BMatches&z=4

... and (assuming it's the same song) I guess the lyrics don't add much.

-- Doug Wilson

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