LL-L "Etymology" 2008.12.01 (06) [E/Yiddish]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 01 December 2008 - Volume 06
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From: RBlaustein at aol.com
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2008.12.01 (02) [E]

Dear Lowlanders,

As long as we're discussing the etymology and various meaning of "rag,"
"ragged," and so forth, let me toss this into the mix:*  *

In northwest Connecticut,  "raggie" or "raggy" is a derogatory, contemptuous
term applied to poorly dressed,
lower-class people.

In the neighborhood of  the town of Salisbury in the mountainous
northwestern corner of Litchfield County, Connecticut, the term "raggie" is
specifically applied to lower class inhabitants of Mount Riga, locally
pronounced "Raggy." Is this a folk etymology, do you think?

However,  the term "raggie" is also applied to lower class natives of the
towns of
Winsted, Norfolk and Torrington, all located in Litchfield County.
Apparently, residents of the
various towns apply it to natives of the other towns.

see http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=raggie&defid=2030984.

There is even a FaceBook group of Raggies consisting of present and former
residents of Northwestern Connecticut, who consider the term an in-joke.

However, I have the impression that the term "raggy" is also used in a
derogatory sense in the UK but thus far have not been able to track this
down on the internet.

Have any readers of this list encountered "raggy" or "raggie" used in this
sense outside of northwestern Connecticut? I'd be interested to know if you
have.

All best wishes,

Richard Blaustein

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From: Lee Goldberg <leybl_goldberg at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2008.12.01 (02) [E]

*Yo, ir zayt gerekht, Ron.  **Dos iz take rikhtik.*



"Shmate" in Yiddish is often used figuratively to mean "a piece of crap".
As applied to a woman (for instance, the Russian Empress Alexandra in
a celebrated ditty of the time), it can mean a slut or a whore.



And in a song from World War II, a little orphan boy sings



*Kh'hob gehat a tatele,*

*Hot er mikh gehit.*

*Itst bin ikh a shmatele*

*Vayl ikh bin a yid.*

(I once had a Daddy/Who took care of me/Now I'm just a piece of dirt/Because
I am a Jew)


--- On *Mon, 12/1/08, Reinhard/Ron *wrote:

I believe that in Yiddish, too, you can refer to a worthless newspaper (and
several other things, such as a garment or a worthless document) as שמאַטע (
*shmate*) 'rag'. (*Iz dos rikhtik, Leybl un andere khaveyrim?*) Well, at
least *I* have been known to use the word that way in Yiddish. ;-)
*Shmate*is one of those very useful and ubiquitous Yiddish words that
has found its
way into Northeast American English parlance as a straight loan as well.

So perhaps we are dealing with a Yiddish calque (*shmate* > rag), possibly
one that started in North America. This would have been an easy fit in that
"rag" in the sense of "inferior garment" was probably in English use
already.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
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