swabbie, swabbo

[Jonathan Lighter]

I've never heard of the "swab-o sign."

As for "swabbo," cf. "cheapie" and "cheapo."

But it isn't very common: maybe more like a recurring nonce term among
people who are tired of saying "swabbie."


JL

On Sat, Sep 13, 2014 at 2:48 AM, Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at nb.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>
> Subject:      Re: swabbie, swabbo
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On 9/12/2014 2:32 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      swabbie, swabbo
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I "swabbie"
> >
> > Not in OED, though HDAS files have loads of cites from WW2 on.
> >
> > It means a sailor, esp. a deckhand. A swabber of decks.
> >
> > Here's an interesting adumbration:
> >
> > 1911 Arthur Train, in _Evening Star_ (Wash., D.C.) (Apr. 11) (Sunday
> Mag.)
> > 16: Why, it's old Swabbie the scrubwoman! Hello, Swabbie, old girl!
> >
> > Train was a popular novelist of the day, and his story ("Bat") appeared
> in
> > several papers.
> >
> > II  "swabbo"
> >
> > Also not in OED. Occasionally a synonym for the above (as in Tom Wolfe),
> > but in older naval usage a zero or, as below, a complete miss on a target
> > range.
> >
> > 1909 _Boston Journal_ (July 30) 6:The scorers were all men of the United
> > States Marine Corps, and when a shooter fired at a target and got a miss,
> > and the red flag was waved to denote the fact, the scorer called out in
> the
> > language of the service: "A swabbo for -------."  Much merriment ensued,
> > and the [Spanish-American War veterans] now have a new word added to
> their
> > vocabulary.
> --
>
> This "swabbo" is new to me AFAIK.
>
> Cf. "swab-O sign": I understand this to refer to an "OK"/"good" gesture
> with the index finger and the thumb forming a circle, but I can't
> remember where I got this idea.
>
> Quick Google shows me three instances of this term referring to some
> kind of gesture, all three compatible with a hand gesture with the sense
> "OK", all in fictional works by Poul Anderson. Since I spent a portion
> of my youth reading material by this author, it might could be that I
> got it from him.
>
> Maybe the shape of the sign suggests "zero" ("O").
>
> -- Doug Wilson
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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