"Monday" as racial slur

[Laurence Horn]

On Jul 19, 2012, at 1:01 PM, Ben Zimmer wrote:

> On Thu, Jul 19, 2012 at 11:27 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>
>> Influenced by "Monday morning quarterback"?
>
> On Thu, Jul 19, 2012 at 11:31 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>
>> I wondered if it might be a reference to Rick Monday, 1980's-era
>> outfielder for the Montreal Expos (the Canadian angle!) and L. A.
>> Dodgers, but that seems unlikely.
>
> On Thu, Jul 19, 2012 at 12:40 PM, Michael Everson wrote:
>>
>> Influenced by Robinson Crusoe's man?
>
> None of these speculations seem to have anything to do with it.

Agreed; I don't think either of our suggestions was intended seriously.

> As I mentioned
> in the original post, the only rationale that's given in online sources is that
> blacks get called "Mondays" because "everyone hates them." A family member of
> the disciplined police officer says he called Carl Crawford "Monday" not
> because he's black but because Red Sox fans simply hate *him* as a player.
>
I did a brief double-take on BZ's reference to "the disciplined police officer".  Calling out a slur at a baseball player sounds pretty undisciplined to me.  If anyone is wondering, Crawford received a very (some would say obscenely) generous multiyear contract before last season and proceeded to have a very poor year that was then interrupted by an injury.  Along with other underperformers (and guys drinking too much beer in the clubhouse while the team was self-destructing) led to the final debacle in which the Red Sox missed the playoffs after seeming to be the best team in baseball in mid-summer (2011) and have since had to replace their manager and general manager. The effects from Crawford's injury carried over into this season, and he's trying to get back to the Red Sox by playing himself into shape in the minors, where the (un)disciplined officer crossed paths with him.  (Then again, there's an old history of Boston being a hard place to be a black player (for the ho!
 me team or visitors), and it wouldn't be too startling if locals decided to take out their frustration against Crawford rather than (or more vehemently than) against his Caucasian fellow underperformers.



LH

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