More W. C. Fields-isms, more W. Winchell-isms (long!)

[Miller, Jerry]

Barry: Fascinating stuff, especially about Fields. I am curious to know if
you have any citations for my favorite Fieldsism (i.e., veiled expletive),
"shivering Shinola!"?

Jerry Miller


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bapopik at AOL.COM [SMTP:Bapopik at AOL.COM]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2000 10:48 AM
> To:   ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject:      More W. C. Fields-isms, more W. Winchell-isms (long!)
>
>     I went through a few more books on these guys.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
> ---------------------------------------------
> MORE W. C. FIELDS
>
>     From W. C. FIELDS: HIS FOLLIES & FORTUNES (1949) by Robert Lewis
> Taylor:
>
> Pg. 4:  He exclaims, "Godfrey Daniel!" (which was as near as he could ever
> manage to "goddamn" and still get by the Hays office) and proceeds.
> (Referring to the film NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK--ed.)
> Pg. 12:  Fields enjoyed talking about early Philadelphia, partly, his
> friends
> suspected, because he liked to demonstrate his phenomenal memory.  When in
> good form, he would rattle off long lists of stray information, such as
> the
> fact that Philadelphians called merry-go-rounds "hobbyhorses" (Not in
> DARE--ed.); that they called peanuts "ground nuts" (DARE has mostly
> southern
> cites--ed.); that small restaurants were called "oyster houses" or "oyster
> saloons" (though they sold no liquor)(Both not in DARE--ed.); that Sunday
> entertainment was limited to band concerts at Willow Grove and Strawberry
> Mansion in Fairmont Park; that firecrackers were known as "shooting
> crackers," and that the city was known for Philadelphia Pepper Pot,
> Philadelphia scrapple, sticky-bottom cinnamon buns, and "Scotch cake," a
> flat
> cake an eighth of an inch thick and six inches in diameter, upon which
> Fields
> claimed to have broken several teeth in his fledgling years.
> Pg. 42:  One of the inducements of this job, in Fields' eyes, had been the
> substantial salary of ten dollars a week and, in the trade term, "cakes."
> (RHHDAS has 1906, but this Fields period was 1893-1896--ed.)
> Pg. 232:  His nasal mutter was imitated by laymen, his favorite
> endearments,
> such as "My dove," "My little chickadee," and "My glowworm," which first
> appeared in _If I Had a Million_ (being addressed to the un-dove-like
> Alison
> Skipworth), were repeated ad nauseum, and his mannerisms and snouty
> appearance were (Pg. 233-ed.) burlesqued by many a mime of the vaudeville
> stage.
>      Fields' favorite exclamations--"Godfrey Daniel," "Mother of Pearl"
> (not
> in RHHDAS--ed.), "Drat!" and others--always had a peculiar standing at the
> Hays office..."Godfrey Daniel" always came out "Goddamn," not only to the
> Hays office but to the general public.
> Pg. 325:  Sometimes his bosses would persuade him to try a scene their
> way,
> as a "dry run," just for fun.  (Author's anachronism for this pre-WWII
> period?--ed.)
> Pg. 329:  He relaxed and ordered a "depth bomb," with some water on the
> side.
>  He drank the potion and washed his fingers carefully; then he called for
> another round, including a fresh glass of water.  (RHHDAS has 1963, with
> 1956
> for "depth charge"--ed.)
>
>      From W. C. FIELDS BY HIMSELF: HIS INTENDED AUTOBIOGRAPHY, WITH
> HITHERTO
> UNPUBLISHED LETTERS, NOTES, SCRIPTS, AND ARTICLES (1973), with commentary
> by
> Ronald J. Fields:
>
> Pg. 6:  We had a big yard around the house, and out in front grew a big
> apple
> tree.  Under it lay three apples, and (Pg. 7--ed.) with them as my stock
> in
> trade I started in the juggling business.  (A 1901 interview.  Won't be
> long
> before someone says W. C. Fields coined "the big apple"--ed.)
> Pg. 18:  I do believe it was Carrie Nation or Mrs. Carrie Catt who said
> "Take
> a little wine for thy stomach's sake, but don't get blotto."  (RHHDAS
> blotto
> 1917, this cite 1903?--ed.)
> Pg. 28:  ...so even if You ain't the pig's scream that You say You are,
> You
> had a shining example to copy from.  (19 Nov. 1904 letter.  RHHDAS pig's
> scream?--ed.)
> Pg. 36-37:  ..."knocking 'em out of their seats" at the Orpheum this
> week...
> (1908--ed.)
> Pg. 76:  So "drive easy, the road is muddy" as McIntyre and Heath used to
> say.  (18 April 1928 letter--ed.)
> Pg. 82:  I notice in this month's "Esquire" that you are using "When it's
> not
> a fit night out for man or beast" as a caption for your advertisement.
> Fifteen years ago, I made the line "It ain't a fit night out for (Pg.
> 83--ed.) man or beast" a by-word by using it in my sketch in Earl
> Carroll's
> Vanities.  Later on, I used it as a title for a moving picture I did for
> Mack
> Sennett.  I do not claim to be the originator of this line as it was
> probably
> used long before I was born in some old melodrama, but I want to tell you
> that Four Roses has been my favorite stimulant for years...  (8 February
> 1944
> letter to Frankfort Distilleries--ed.)
> Pg. 249:  My old grand-mere, were she here and had she thought of it,
> might
> have said: "Don't believe anything you hear and only half you see."  (13
> July
> 1943 letter--ed.)
> Pg. 452:  As our Sunday school teacher used to say: Pluckhit.  (21 October
> 1938 letter--ed.)
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
> ---------------------------------------------
> MORE WALTER WINCHELL
>
>      From WINCHELL EXCLUSIVE (1966-1972) by Walter Winchell:
>
> Pg. 2:  From the Hotsy we went to Texas Guinan's, the most popular and
> prosperous sip-and-sup spot along The Big Apple (Broadway--ed).
> Pg. 6:  The teen-urgers today are not much different from the ones I grew
> up
> with in Harlem in 1910.  If you weren't a Sissy, Queer, Minty, Petunia,
> Pansy, or Flaming Fhagott, you dated girls.
> Pg. 28:  The slogan "You Haven't Arrived Until You've Played the Palace!"
> was
> created by a great guy and star press agent named Walter J. Kingsley.
> Pg. 29:  I gave Milton (Berle--ed.) the name The Thief of Bad Gags.  I
> can't
> recall that I coined it, but at least I popularized it--by using it a lot.
> Pg. 43:  glitterati.
> Pg. 46:  My Girl Friday.
> Pp. 116, 192, 220, 297, 306:  The Big C.  (RHHDAS has Big C=Cancer from
> 1964,
> with no Winchell cites--ed.)
> Pg. 193:  ...Forty-sixth Street and The Big Apple (Broadway--ed).
> Pg. 324:  A GLOZZERY OF WWORD WWEDDINGS
> _Adam-and-Eveing it_...going places together
> _Ankled up an altar_...were married
> _Bologny Boulevard_...Times Square
> _Bundle from Heaven_...baby
> _Bundle of threads_...girl
> _Chicagorilla_...a Chicago gunman
> _Chewsday_,,,Tuesday
> _Chune_...tune
> _Crudd_...a person as unimportant as the phlu you find in the corner of
> your
> pockets
> _Cupiding_...in love
> _Curdled_...ended a romance
> _Debutramp_...instead of debutante
> _Fun Milk_...liquor
> _Giggle Water_...liquor
> _Go-Ghetto District_...the Ghetto
> _Hard-Times Square_...Times Square
> _Hardened Artery_...Broadway
> _He's phluggy_...a little silly, screwy, dumb
> _Imaging_...going to have a Blessed Event
> _Infanticipating_...going to have a Blessed Event
> _Increasing the Mom-and-Population_...anticipating a Blessed Event
> _Is my face red!_...embarrassed
> Pg. 325:
> _Joining the Renobility_...divorced in Reno
> _Joy Juice_...liquor
> _Laughing Soup_...liquor
> _Lohengrin it_...to marry
> _Main Stem Femmes_...Broadway girls
> _Melted_...divorced
> _Merge_...to marry
> _Merry Magdalens_...chorus girls
> _Middle-Aisle it_...to wed
> _Old Foofff_...a pest
> _On Fire_...in love
> _On the Merge_...engaged
> _On the Verge_...about to be divorced
> _Panz_...a pansy or sissy
> _Parenticipating_...anticipating a Blessed Event
> _Park Rowgues_...newspapermen
> _Phffft_...separated
> _Phlicker_...movie
> _Profanuage_...profane language
> _Renovated_...divorced in Reno
> _Revusical_...a revue
> _Rumorogues_...gossips
> _Satdee_...Saturday
> _Shafts_...legs
> _Sealed_...wed
> _Sin Den_...nightclub
> _Swelegant_...even more than elegant
> _A Swifty_...a swift wisecrack
> _Telling It to a Judge_...getting a divorce
> _Terpsichorines_...chorus girls
> _That way_...in love
> _The Grandest Canyon_...Broadway
> _This-and-That-Way_...on the verge of parting
> _Times Squareguy_...a Broadway habitue who is on the level
> _Times Square_...Broadway
> _Two-Times Square_...Times Square
> _Uh-huh_...plenty in love
> _Wildeman_...a pansy or sissy
> _Wyoming ketchup_...liquor
> _Yurrop_...Europe