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<pre wrap="">A standard joke when I was in the Marine Corps in the sixties went:
Question: "How do you catch a lifer? Answer: Hide in
the bushes and make a noise like a benny."
A "lifer" was a career Marine.
Larry
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Larry@Scroggs.com">Larry@Scroggs.com</a>
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> > </span>-----------------------
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> > </span>Sender: American Dialect Society
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span><a
class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:ADS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU"><ADS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU></a>
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> > </span>Poster: Jonathan Lighter
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span><a
class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:wuxxmupp2000@YAHOO.COM"><wuxxmupp2000@YAHOO.COM></a>
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> > </span>Subject: Re: benny?
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> ></span>
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">></span>
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> > </span>--------
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> ></span>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> > </span>Wilson, was this in common use in the army in the
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>'50s? Could you
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> > </span>provide a context or an example of the bennies
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>referred to?
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> ></span>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> > </span>JL
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>Yes, it was in common use. I knew a guy named
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>Benjamin who refused to
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>let anyone call him "Benny" because he didn't want
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>to have to deal with
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>all the bad jokes and puns at his expense.
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>"Bennies" referred referred both to the basic "three
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>hots and a cot and
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>you don't have to buy no clothes" and to such things
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>as thirty days per
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>annum of paid leave ("furlough" wasn't used in my
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>day, for some
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>reason), T[emporary]D[ut]Y," which earned you extra
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>pay for doing your
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>normal job at someplace other than your home post,
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>longevity pay (an
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>automatic rise in base pay for every two years of
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>service), proficiency
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>pay (you had to pass a test to be awarded the grade
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>of P[roficiency
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>Level] I, but the upgrade to P II was automatic,
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>though you had to pass
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>another test to reach P III), hardship pay and
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>combat pay for being
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>stationed in West Berlin, free medical and dental,
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>free flights to
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>anyplace in the world on a space-available basis on
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>Air Force transport
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>planes, and space was always available, the Post
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>Exchange, which sold
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>Rolexes and Burberry, to mention just a couple of
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>brand names, at
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>give-away prices, cigarettes by the carton at a
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>price so low as to be
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>inconsequential, and, if you had the right
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>M[ilitary]O[ccupation]Specialty, swift promotion.
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>TDY was a favorite benny because, though you were at
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>temporary location
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>B, you were still under the command of your home
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>post A. This meant
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>that, once the workday ended, you could do as you
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>pleased, since post B
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>had no record of your existence except for your name
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>on the duty roster
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>and the records at post A merely stated that you
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>were on TDY. So, you
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>didn't have to be present for reveille or bed check
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>or deal with any
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>pain-in-the-ass duties such as pulling motor stables
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>or burn-bag
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>detail. It was like being on a paid vacation without
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>using up any of
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>your leave time.
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>And, of course, there was the re-enlistment benny:
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>an extra thirty days
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>of paid leave and a minimum bonus of $1500. If you
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>were, as I was, a
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>graduate of the Army Language School, a further
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>benny was that you
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>could go back to the Language School - in my day,
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>easily the poshest
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>post in the Army for enlisted personnel - and take
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>any language that
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>you pleased, even the one in which you already held
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>a diploma. On your
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>original enlistment, the language that you studied
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>was determined by
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>your placement on the entrance exam.
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>-Wilson
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> > </span>Wilson Gray <a
class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:wilson.gray@RCN.COM"><wilson.gray@RCN.COM></a> wrote:
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> > </span>---------------------- Information from the mail
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>header
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> > </span>-----------------------
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> > </span>Sender: American Dialect Society
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> > </span>Poster: Wilson Gray
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> > </span>Subject: Re: benny?
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> ></span>
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> > </span>--------
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> ></span>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> > </span>On Jun 15, 2005, at 4:09 PM, Jesse Sheidlower
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>wrote:
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> ></span>
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >> </span>---------------------- Information from the mail
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>header
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >> </span>-----------------------
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >> </span>Sender: American Dialect Society
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >> </span>Poster: Jesse Sheidlower
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >> </span>Subject: Re: benny?
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >></span>
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<pre wrap=""><!---->----------------------------------------------------------------------
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >> </span>-
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >> </span>--------
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >></span>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >> </span>On Wed, Jun 15, 2005 at 03:04:39PM -0500, Rachel
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>Shuttlesworth wrote:
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>> </span>From a story in the Chicago Tribune, located at
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>></span>
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span><a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/health/chi">http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/health/chi</a>
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>> </span>-0506150258jun15,1,6069459.story?page=2
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>></span>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>> </span>"We don't really talk about healthy anywhere in
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>our restaurant,"
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>> </span>Hirshberg said. "That's very intentional. Not
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>because it isn't. We
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>> </span>want
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>> </span>them to enjoy the food for the food, and then to
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>feel that health is
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>> </span>a
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>> </span>benny."
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>></span>
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>> </span>I can find "benny" in the OED meaning overcoat
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>and Benzedrine. Trying
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>> </span>to
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>> </span>find other examples of this usage online brings
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>up Benny's Hinn,
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>> </span>Hill,
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>> </span>Goodman, etc. I found one case of British slang
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>where "benny" is
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<blockquote type="cite">
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>> </span>defined
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>> </span>as losing one's temper
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> >>></span>
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<pre wrap=""><!---->(<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www2.foxsearchlight.com/fullmonty/def/benny.htm">http://www2.foxsearchlight.com/fullmonty/def/benny.htm</a>).
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<pre wrap=""><span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>What is its
<span class="moz-txt-citetags">> </span>
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<pre wrap=""><!---->=== message truncated ===
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