go hermantile (hermentile, hermatile, hermetile, hermitile)

[Stephen Goranson]

Admittedly, this may be a very long shot, though maybe no more farfetched that other current options. "Hermantile" (et sim.--though apparently not hermanntile) seems to be US slang related to insanity and war (Great War?) explosions.
There are a few accounts of "insane...Lieut. Herman Berka formerly chief engineer of the [German] cruiser" that was "blown up in Guam" when the Americans entered the war, then taken prisoner and placed in an American insane asylum.

E.g.:
Nevada State Journal - 1919-09-27
El Paso Herald Nov 24, 1917 p. 5
Records of the Department of State Relating to World War I and its Termination, 1914-1929

Stephen Goranson
http://www.duke.edu/~goranson
________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Stephen Goranson [goranson at DUKE.EDU]
Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2012 9:59 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] go hermantile (hermentile, hermatile, hermetile,              hermitile)

According to HathiTrust, hermantile occurs (after the 1923 below) a second time in Adventure. v. 45 1924 p. 169,
but no context given. (Maybe shell-shock related?)

SG
________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Laurence Horn [laurence.horn at YALE.EDU]
Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2012 2:09 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] go hermantile (hermentile, hermatile, hermetile,              hermitile)

On Feb 11, 2012, at 11:06 AM, Stephen Goranson wrote:

> If Google books is accurate (Worldcat gives vol. 39 as 1923-1924) an antedating from Adventure v. 39 (1923) p, 52, col. 2:
>
> "Don't get hermantile," said the frog.
>
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=Cd4XAQAAIAAJ&q=hermantile+OR+hermentile+OR+hermatile+OR+hermetile+OR+hermintile+OR+hermintile+OR+herman-tile&dq=hermantile+OR+hermentile+OR+hermatile+OR+hermetile+OR+hermintile+OR+hermintile+OR+herman-tile&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-Y82T_LdD8m8twer3MC1Ag&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAQ
>
> Stephen Goranson
> http://www.duke.edu/~goranson
> ________________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Grant Barrett [grantbarrett at GMAIL.COM]
> Sent: Friday, February 10, 2012 4:20 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: [ADS-L] go hermantile (hermentile, hermatile, hermetile,              hermitile)
>
> A listener to the radio show turned me on to the expression "go hermantile" ' go crazy' or 'get angry."
>
> He's retired from the US Navy and works for USN now as a civilian. He says he's  heard it his whole career and most people do not pronounce the N. It's not in HDAS, DARE, GDOS, or OED.
>
> Urban Dictionary has entries: "Acting disproportionately crazy to a situation; running amok and generally reacting badly."
>
> http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hermatile
> http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Hermitile
>

The real question is whether future generations will reanalyze it into a derivation involving Herman Cain.

LH

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