[Ads-l] "a solid" vs. "some solid"

Wilson Gray hwgray at GMAIL.COM
Wed Feb 7 00:25:53 UTC 2018


> do him some solid

Wow! _Great_ catch, Garson!😳 You're a "solid sender," to coin a phrase/pun.

On Tue, Feb 6, 2018 at 4:49 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com
> wrote:

> Here is a relatively recent example with "some", i.e., "do him some solid".
>
> Forum Name: Go Deep at FinHeaven.com
> Poster: Peter North (Seasoned Veteran)
> Date: January 16, 2014
>
> http://finheaven.com/threads/alonzo-highsmith-not-a-
> consideration-for-gm-position.308669/
>
> [Begin slightly reformatted message]
> Mike13 said
> >Former Packers staff don't poach from Green Bay. Its an unwritten rule
> they have.
>
> Then why go through the charade of interviewing Ben McAdoo for the OC
> position? Just to do him some solid and make him look more appealing
> for the team that did hire him? I doubt it.
> [End message]
>
> Green's Dictionary of Slang (free version without citations) has a
> pertinent entry. Sense 4 below and the phrase sense seem to fit
> Wilson's usage, but it is unclear whether the citations use "a solid",
> "the solid", or "some solid". The claim of a citation in the 1920s is
> intriguing.
>
> Jon Lighter's private files might have information. The public volumes
> did not reach the letter "S" (as list members know).
>
> https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/dqk6aai
>
> [Begin entry]
> solid n.
> [someone or something that has substance, thus dependable, trustworthy]
>
> 1. [late 18C] constr. with the, a guinea.
> 2. [20C+] (UK tramp) the road.
> 3. [1920s] (US Und.) a trustworthy fellow criminal or prison inmate.
> 4. [1950s+] (US black) a favour.
>
> In phrases
> do (someone) a/the solid (v.)
> [1920s+] (US) to perform a great favour.
> [End entry]
>
> Garson
>
>
> On Tue, Feb 6, 2018 at 2:06 PM, MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY
> RDECOM AMRDEC (US) <william.d.mullins18.civ at mail.mil> wrote:
> > Dialog from the Pixar film _The Incredibles_ (2004), Holly Hunter's
> character speaking:
> >
> > "Snug, I'm calling in a solid you owe me."
> >
> >
> >> ----
> >>
> >> Around the time that the expression, _do me a solid_ "do me a favor"
> was coming into use, I noted that, in StL, back in the '40's and '50's,
> >> the phrase was "do me _some_ solid," with its negative being, "I can't
> do you no solid."
> >>
> >> Occasionally, I Google this kind of stuff to see whether it may have
> appeared in print since the last time that I looked. So...
> >>
> >> Can you do Gymnastics with Scoliosis? | Yahoo Answers
> >> https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100610000643AAzb6FA
> >> Jun 10, 2010 - "i became entreated [interested?] to do calisthenics and
> putting [pulling?] workouts in my freshman and sophomore 365 days
> >> [years?] in extreme [?] college to decrease my scoliosis. That advice
> would do you properly[?]. i'd use the pull up bars to hold from, and
> >> stretch my back. It appeared to _do me some solid_."
> >>
> >> It's unclear that this means _do me some solid_ in the relevant sense -
> "do me some good, help me out" - considering the lack of clarity of
> >> what precedes it. But, "until the real thing comes along," as the song
> says...
> >> --
> >> -Wilson
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > 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

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