Dollars to Doughnuts

[Beverly Flanigan]

Speaking of doughnuts, I have in front of me an article by Geneva
Smitherman ("They Done Taken My Blues and Gone," with the title borrowed
from Langston Hughes), in which she cites an AAE phrase, "I bet you a fat
man against the hole in a doughnut."  Any idea what this means?

At 12:43 PM 10/9/01 -0400, you wrote:
> > Dollars to doughnuts...3:1 odds these days if we're talking about actual
> > doughnuts...although not too long ago it was more like 5:1 odds...
>
>
>I'd give it even less.  To me (and my roommate, and likely our generation)
>they've always been real donuts.
>
>Case in point (not with dollars, but with diamonds):
>
>On "Ducktales" (the Disney afternoon cartoon with Uncle Scrooge, Hewy, Dewy,
>Louie, etc.) they had a five-part (i.e. week-long) story involving Uncle
>Scrooge going back in time to re-claim a diamond mine (this is the movie
>where Bubba, the cave duck was introduced).
>Anyway... at one point Uncle Scrooge and his Enemy (whose name I can't find)
>say this:
>
>Uncle: "I'll bet diamonds to donuts that [you're] behind this!"
>[Enemy]: (inexact quote) You win the donuts, but I win all the diamonds!
>
>And then there's some mention that they are actual donuts.  I wish I could
>find the exact quote, but "Ducktales" scripts are hard to come by and my copy
>of the movie is at my parents' house.
>
>-dsb
>Douglas S. Bigham
>Southern Illinois University - Carbondale


_____________________________________________
Beverly Olson Flanigan         Department of Linguistics
Ohio University                     Athens, OH  45701
Ph.: (740) 593-4568              Fax: (740) 593-2967
http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/linguistics/dept/flanigan.htm