[Ads-l] "dancing fool" 'a fool for dancing'

Theresa Fisher fisher.theresa at GMAIL.COM
Wed May 1 16:58:04 UTC 2019


Hi! I'm trying to figure out when the term "self-care" emerged. I've read a
number articles that trace the history of the self-care movement. But I'm
having trouble finding information about the origins of the term itself.
This Slate story
<http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2017/04/the_history_of_self_care.html>
suggests that self-care emerged as a medical concept at some point before
the mid-20th century, and then acquired political meaning in the 1960s or
70s. But it's not clear to me when the writer is discussing the origins of
the term self-care vs. the idea of self-care. Any guidance on this would be
appreciated!!

On Mon, Apr 29, 2019 at 1:12 PM Andy Bach <afbach at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Andy Bach <afbach at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "dancing fool" 'a fool for dancing'
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> >  I'm a couple of days late on this but I do have a more recent "V-ing
> fool" use.
>
> Well, a modern-er version with a modified "dancing" - the Uptones have a
> song "Skanking Fool" (or "Skankin' Fool") - skanking being a Ska related
> dance.
> https://youtu.be/dS7C0TQtDfU
>
> "Nobody bounces back like a skankin' fool"
>
> On Mon, Apr 29, 2019 at 11:01 AM victor steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > I'm a couple of days late on this but I do have a more recent "V-ing
> fool"
> > use. One of the "alternative" shaving equipment companies had a radio ad
> > over the past 3 years that included the phrase "Men are exfoliating
> fools".
> > The first time I heard it, it made me wonder if this was the "dancing
> fool"
> > sense or the regular one. The spot has tapered off this year so I'm not
> > likely to find the specific citation. But I also want to put in a word
> for
> > analyzing the language of radio advertising. Sometimes it makes you think
> > well beyond the marketer's intent.
> >
> > VS-)
> >
> > On Fri, Apr 26, 2019, 20:05 Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject:      Re: "dancing fool" 'a fool for dancing'
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > Zappa sang Dancin' Fool on SNL on 10/21/78
> > > DanG
> > >
> > > On Fri, Apr 26, 2019 at 7:57 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > OED's no help, but here are some notable occurrences of
> > "dancing/dancin'
> > > > fool":
> > > >
> > > > "The Dancin' Fool" (1920 silent comedy film)
> > > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dancin%27_Fool
> > > >
> > > > "The Dancing Fool" (1932 animated cartoon with Betty Boop)
> > > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dancing_Fool
> > > >
> > > > "Dancin' Fool" (1974 song by The Guess Who)
> > > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancin%27_Fool_(The_Guess_Who_song)
> > > >
> > > > "Dancin' Fool" (1979 song by Frank Zappa)
> > > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancin%27_Fool
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Fri, Apr 26, 2019 at 7:12 PM Arnold M. Zwicky <
> zwicky at stanford.edu>
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > i've stumbled on this formulaic expression in preparing a posting
> (it
> > > > > comes up in a song from the Broadway show "Once Upon a Mattress", a
> > > song
> > > > > sung by the Jester -- i.e., a fool), and started to track it down,
> > but
> > > easy
> > > > > places on the net provided nothing useful, and (in my latest
> computer
> > > > > screwup) the OED is at least temporarily unavailable to me.  it
> isn't
> > > > > crucial to my posting, but my curiosity has been piquied...
> > > > >
> > > > > is there literature about the the history of this expression?  is
> > > there a
> > > > > history of a larger usage "V-ing fool"?  (or are such occurrences
> > > parasitic
> > > > > on "dancing fool"?)
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
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> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
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> > >
> >
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> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
> --
>
> a
>
> Andy Bach,
> afbach at gmail.com
> 608 658-1890 cell
> 608 261-5738 wk
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 

Theresa Fisher
fisher.theresa at gmail.com
914 500 3434

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