<div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">===========================================<br>L O W L A N D S - L - 06 June 2009 - Volume 01<br style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Encoding: Unicode (UTF-08)</span><br style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">
<span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Language Codes: <a href="http://lowlands-l.net/codes.php">lowlands-l.net/codes.php</a></span><br>===========================================<br></div><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">From: </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="gI"><span class="gD" style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">Jacqueline Bungenberg de Jong</span> <span class="go"><<a href="mailto:Dutchmatters@comcast.net">Dutchmatters@comcast.net</a>></span></span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Subject: </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="gI">LL-L "Etymology" 2009.06.05 (09) [EN]<br><br></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Marsha and Ron. When Ron analyzed the word “peawadden” as
derived from “pij” the heavy fabric of which the coats of travelling clergy and
others were made, I immediately reacted with “stuffing”. That would be the left
over “pij” used as the interlining for a newer coat. I remember a coat that was
interlined with an old jacket of my Dad’s which I wore to school at the end of
WWII. Might that just be possible. Jacqueline, Seattle/USA</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">----------</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>> <br>
Subject: Etymology</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Wow, Jacqueline! Thanks. That was just a piece I needed to add weight to my little theory.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">It's repeated below for those that missed it, including our new member that just joined us from Cape Town:</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Regards,</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Reinhard/Ron</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Seattle, USA</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><div style="margin-left: 40px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Marsha, you asked:<br><br></div>
<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 80px; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">I'm curious about the origin and meaning of the word "peawadden," as in
"that scared the peawadden out of me."</div>
<div style="margin-left: 80px; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Any ideas?<br></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br>I can't find any etymological references for it at the moment, but I do have a vague theory at least.<br>
<br>Looking at the context, it seems to be a "replacement" word for a
word that is not socially acceptable, typically considered either
obscene or blasphemous. Usually the first letter is a give-away. (Take
your pick!)<br><br>At any rate, replacement words ("euphemisms" isn't the correct
word) tend to be chosen so as to be silly, nonsensical in the contexts
within which they are used, such as "bloody" for older "by our Lady",
or "flippin'" or "friggin'" for you-know-what.<br><br>So what might the meaning of "peawadden" or "pea-wadden" or "pea wadden" be?<br><br>Enter
my theory, going back generations to the time of early European
settlement in America. And the expression seems to be American, or
perhaps rather <i>preserved</i> in American English.<br><br>Besides a type of edible legume, "pea" can stand for "pea-coat" or
"pea-jacket", known since the 18th century. This is supposed to go back
to Early Dutch <i>piejacke</i><i>pijjak</i>, a double-breasted sailor's jacket made from <i>pie</i> > <i>pij</i>, a coarse type of fabric. (In Low Saxon we say <i>Piejack</i>.)<br><br>Furthermore, I theorize that "wadden" comes from "waddin'", thus "wadding". We are thus talking about a type of garment padding.<br>
<br>Go wad your pea with that!<br></div>
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