1947 citing in Archie Comic of "butthole." What did it mean? (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Baker, John]

Actually, my view is that Bob Montana most likely intentionally wrote "butthole," having in mind some innocuous meaning that is opaque to us.  I meant that, if there were vandalism, it would have been by his letterer; vandalism at the syndicate is unlikely, and vandalism at the newspapers themselves has been ruled out.


John Baker



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Victor Steinbok
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2012 5:50 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: 1947 citing in Archie Comic of "butthole." What did it mean? (UNCLASSIFIED)

I'm going to have to assume that you know this stuff, because I'm still
puzzled as to why a lettering vandalism would have been required if the
meaning was slangy but benign. I'll have to defer to your superior
knowledge of the situation, but as an average user, I would not have it
as my top choice of an explanation.

On a related note, I wanted to make an observation that all early
instances of "butthole" (so far) appear to imply a hole *with* a
butt--or a butted hole--*not* a hole *in* a butt. This would be
consistent with the interpretation of Montana's use as "dead-end" or
"bottom-of-the-barrel" job. An existence of an identical scatological
term (butt, not butthole) would not necessarily be seen as blocking the
ordinary use--or we would never have see another kid named John, Richard
or William since each has a variant that is used in a vulgar sense.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

     VS-)

On 5/8/2012 4:32 PM, Baker, John wrote:
>          Note that, if there were vandalism by a letterer, which is the current theory, that would be reflected in the original art, so examining it wouldn't tell us anything.  The family might know if Bob Montana used a letterer, as opposed to lettering the strip himself.
> ...
>
> John Baker
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of sclements at NEO.RR.COM
> Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2012 1:38 PM
>
> ...
> I'm of the opinion that contacting the family to see if they still have the original for that date might be the only way to find out if the newspaper copies were vandalized(which is my current leaning).
>
> Sam Clements

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org