[Ads-l] Heard on The Steve Wilkos Show, tonight

Wilson Gray hwgray at GMAIL.COM
Sat Sep 24 00:41:59 UTC 2016


As someone might have said, when I was in the Army,

"This comment must have been written by _a man with a rubber asshole_."

Both "rabbit-assed mind" and "a man with a rubber asshole" are equally
opaque to me WRT their semantics.

A mere 5 results, this being the oldest, though I first heard the
expression in 1959:

mudcat.org: Curious Expressions Three
mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=26181
The Mudcat Cafe
Oct 5, 2000 - 82 posts - ‎37 authors
"Jesus, Dan. You act like a man with a rubber asshole." Anybody ever heard
that before? [Yes.] Exactly how does a man with a rubber asshole act? [You
got me there. When I was accused of *talking* like such a man, I asked, WTF
does that mean? and got no response.]

On Fri, Sep 23, 2016 at 12:38 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:

> A book that was probably published in 1953 contains the phrase
> "rabbit-ass mind".
>
> Year: 1953
> Title: The Waiters
> Author: William Fisher
> Publisher: The World Publishing Company, Cleveland, Ohio
> Quote Page GB 162
> Database: Google Books Snippet
> (Data may be inaccurate; 1953 is visible in snippet showing copyright
> notice; 1953 is also shown in WorldCat entry)
>
> [Begin extracted text]
> Asher, who had to keep his eye on the car ahead, patted her thigh with one
> hand.
> "Pay 'em no mind, babes," he said. "Pay 'em no rabbit-ass mind."
> Asher nosed the car along for several blocks in the creeping stream of
> automobiles.
> [End text]
>
> Wilson displayed a snippet with "rabbit-assed mind" in the
> (apparently) 1967 book 'Sippi'. The book also contains "rabbit-ass
> mind".
>
> Year: 1967
> Title: 'Sippi'
> Author: John Oliver Killens
> Publisher: Trident Press, New York
> Quote Page 71
> Database: Google Books Snippet
> (Data may be inaccurate; 1967 is visible in snippet showing
> publication date; 1967 is also shown in WorldCat entry)
>
> [Begin extracted text; not shown in snippet]
> Swear to my Jesus, she won't pay me no rabbit-ass mind. She ain't
> gitting up offa nothing for nobody, but all you got to do is to pop
> your finger."
> [End text]
>
> Below is another instance that was probably published in 1968.
>
> Year: 1968
> Title: The Hippies
> Author: Burton H. Wolfe
> Publisher: A Signet Book: New American Library
> Quote Page 168
> Database: Google Books Snippet
> (Data may be inaccurate; 1968 is visible in copyright notice snippet;
> 1968 is also shown in WorldCat entry)
>
> [Begin extracted text]
> I remember this one boy I met, Joe, eighteen years old He was using
> and selling crystal One day he said to me: "Man, I'm out of my rabbit
> ass mind." I asked him what that meant. He said: "I've just turned on
> to some good geese [another term for heroin]."
> [End text]
>
> Garson
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 22, 2016 at 3:25 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Spoken by a 25-ish, black male guest:
> >
> > "You out your _rabbit-assed mind_!
> >
> > Google: About 516 results; _rabbit-assed_ alone: About 937 results
> >
> >
> > I last - and first - heard this turn of phrase in 1957. It was used by
> only
> > a single person, an older ex-GI who was a frat-brother of mine. I assumed
> > that it was GI slang. However, until tonight, I'd never heard anyone else
> > use it, whether in the Army or anywhere else
> >
> >
> > GoogleB: 26 results; _rabbit-assed_ alone: 35 results
> >
> > 'Sippi - Page 175
> > https://books.google.com/books?id=HKxiAAAAMAAJ
> > John Oliver Killens - 1967 - ‎Snippet view
> > They liked him very much, even if the girls on the campus paid him no
> > _rabbit-assed mind_.
> >
> > This is the oldest cite, but with a twist in the semantics.
> >
> > By coincidence, Killens was also an (even older) ex-GI who was a
> > frat-brother of mine.
> >
> > --
> > -Wilson
> > -----
> > All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
> > come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> > -Mark Twain
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



-- 
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

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



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