[Ads-l] paddy wagon

[paul johnson]

Was that the same Mariah that the wind was named?


On 7/29/2017 11:27 AM, Margaret Winters wrote:
> Geoff Nathan and I wondered about who Mariah was - it came up after this thread started, of course.
>
>
> ----------------------------
> MARGARET E WINTERS
> Former Provost
> Professor Emerita - French and Linguistics
> Wayne State University
> Detroit, MI  48202
>
> mewinters at wayne.edu
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Friday, July 28, 2017 8:40 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: paddy wagon
>
> I'd be very surprised to see "paddy wagon" applied to a "police car," at
> least in the U.S.
>
> BTW, the predecessor of the "paddy wagon" was the "Black Mariah." A
> different "slur"?
>
> My grandparents used "paddy wagon," but both were familiar with "Black
> Mariah" from NYC in the '90s.
>
> (That's "1890s.")
>
> JL
>
>
>
> JL
>
> On Fri, Jul 28, 2017 at 7:13 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
> adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> In April 2015 Stephen Goranson initiated a discussion thread about
>> "paddy wagon" by presenting some intriguing citations:
>>
>> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2015-April/136543.html
>>
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> Though "paddy wagon" came to be associated with police vehicles, some
>> early uses associate it with wheelbarrows. OED (via Sam Clements) has
>> 1909 for "paddy wagon."
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> I presented some complementary matches for "Paddy's wheelbarrow".
>> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2015-April/136625.html
>>
>> The OED has the following definition for "paddy" and notes that it can
>> be derogatory.
>>
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> paddy, n.2
>> 1. colloq.
>>   a. Usually in form Paddy. An Irishman. Frequently used as a
>> derogatory form of address.
>> 1714   in R. Steele Poetical Misc. 201   Poor Paddy swears his whole
>> Week's Gains away.
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> Here is the OED information for "paddy wagon" which is listed under
>> "paddy, n.2".
>>
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> paddy wagon  n. slang (orig. U.S.) a police van or car.
>>
>> 1909   Chicago Tribune 12 Sept. v. 3/1   Don't it make you think of
>> the paddy wagon going down the street to pinch a gambling joint?
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> Garson
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jul 28, 2017 at 5:09 PM, Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>> Even if it's true that it's a reference to Irishmen, they were typically
>> hired as policemen who manned and operated the police wagons, so it's more
>> descriptive than derogatory. Not every race/ethnic reference is a slur.
>>> ________________________________
>>> From: Wilson Gray<mailto:hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
>>> Sent: ‎7/‎28/‎2017 15:54
>>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Subject: Re: paddy wagon
>>>
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
>>> Subject:      Re: paddy wagon
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> -------------------
>>> I wonder when Al discovered that it was a slur? I spent the greater
>> portion
>>> of my life thinking that _paddy-wagon_ < "patty-wagon" < "patrol-wagon,"
>>> with no reference to race or ethnicity. I've been familiar with _paddy_
>>> itself since the beginning of time, but only as a synonym of e.g. _fade_
>>> "white person" (as opposed to _shade_ "black person").
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jul 28, 2017 at 4:29 PM, Jonathan Lighter <
>> wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> The Rev. Al Sharpton on MSNBC's _Deadline: White House_:
>>>>
>>>> "[Now President Trump is] talking about 'paddy wagons' which, by the
>> way,
>>>> is a *slur*, Mr. President!"
>>>>
>>>> JL
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> "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
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> -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
>>>
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>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> 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."
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

-- 
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