Greiger/Grager/Gregar; Redeemer; Vanilla Coke; General Gau; Deep Doo-Doo, et al.

Tue Aug 6 06:16:39 UTC 2002

REDEEMER

   From the NEW YORK POST, 5 August 2002, pg. 16, col. 2:

_Trash grubbers_
_rake in big bucks_
(...)
   Known as "redeemers," these scroungers make their collections from garbage
cans on street corners, and from trash bags discarded outside apartment
buildings, hotels and restaurants.

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GREIGER/GRAGER/GREGAR

   OED under any spelling?

Marrch 6, 1914, THE JEWISH CHILD, pg. 4, col. 2 photo caption:
THE PURIM GREIGER

February 22, 1918, THE JEWISH CHILD, pg. 2, col. 2 photo caption:
"AND TURN MY GREGAR"
(Col. 1 of poem--ed.)
The kitchen air smells awful' sweet;
   I just wont go away,
Till she gives me a Homon-Tasch,
   And sends me out to play.
(Col. 2 of poem--ed.)
I stamp and stampp with all my might,
   When Haman's name is said;
And turn my Gregar with a shout,
   Because his sons are dead.

February 1920, THE JEWISH CHILD, pg. 2, col. 2 photo caption:
WITH "GRAGERS" IN HAND THEY WENT TO "SHOOL"
(Pg. 3, col. 1--ed.)
Forget not to go there when the "gragern" beginneth. (...)  They were reading
the Megillah and all our princes were "gragering" but Abie could not, for he
was in deep thought.

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NASH, NASHER (continued)

   From THE JEWISH CHILD, 23 February 1917, pg. 3, col. 3:

   And I'm sure we won't be standing near those pickles very long before we
get the last sense busy and begin to "Nash," and keep on doing so until we
have eaten more nuts and pickles and oranges than any person has a right to
do and still escape being sick.

   From THE JEWISH CHILD, 26 October 1917, pg. 4, col. 2 cartoon:

   _The Story of a "Nasher"_

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JEWISH CHILD "COOKERY CORNER"

   THE JEWISH CHILD has a "Cookery Corner."

16 March 1917, pg. 4, col. 2:  GEFUELLTER FISH, MATZO BALLS.
30 March 1917, pg. 2, col. 1:  "CHREMSLACH."
4 May 1917, pg. 3, col. 3:  ALEPH BETH PRETZELS.

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CONNECT-THE-DOTS (continued)

   THE JEWISH CHILD, 6 April 1917, pg. 4, col. 3, has a "puzzle" of Theodore
Herzl's face.  The words "connect-the-dots" are not used, but that's what it
is.

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VANILLA COKE

   I didn't see "wet fries" in the BOSTON PHOENIX in 1988-1989.
   From the BOSTON PHOENIX, 2 December 1988, pg. 11, col. 2:

_Bence Pharmacy_
   Maybe you can't go home again, but you certainly can go back to the Bence
Pharmacy after 25 years.  When I was spending the summer of 1963 in a Harvard
Law School dorm, this drugstore/soda-fountain landmark ("about 80 years") on
the corner of Mass Ave and Everett Street was a haven for cheap eats. (...)
Or got to choose from "nutritious" lime rickeys, "handmade" vanilla and
raspberry Cokes, egg creams, and "plain drinks"?

("Vanilla Coke" is not new!--ed.)

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GENERAL GAU'S CHICKEN

   From the BOSTON PHOENIX, 3 June 1988, pg. 10, col. 3:

   Noble House has a really exciting version of the popuular General Gau's
chicken ($7.50).  If you haven't got the bug yet, General Gau's chicken is
batter-fried in boneless chunks and then served up in a sweet-and-sour sauce
improved with ginger and pepper.  At Noble House, the chicken pieces are
chopped with some of the ginger and worked into superior croquettes.  Being
uniform in size and shape, the croquettes fry up beautifully, and go into a
revved-up version of the sweet-and-sour sauce.  At the edges, where the
croquettes get crispiest, this is actually better than barbecue.

(Maybe this is an American regional item after all.  General Tso seems to
operate in New York City, and General Gau seems to have a field of operations
in Boston--ed.)

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DEEP DOO-DOO

   The RHHDAS A-G, pg. 631, says this was popularized by the elder George
Bush in January 1989.
   From the BOSTON PHOENIX, June 3-9, 1988, pg. 1, col. 2:

_Mediacracy_
_The election on television_
(...)
   Dukakis, when challenged in debate, is given to responding with a
dismissive "Get your facts straight," followed by a crisp litany of
accomplishment.  Bush, even when not confronted, is liable to launch into a
mystifying discourse on, for instance, the secual antics of Alaskan caribou,
or an orgy of fractured syntax punctuated with such Phillips Andoverisms as
"tension city" and "deep doo-doo."

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MISC.

JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA---Yes, I'm aware of this work.  I question the copyright
of some material.  Jim Landau used a 1905 edition, which mentioned the NYPL
and some work from November 1903.  I've seen 1903, 1909, and later editions.
The edition on the open shelf in the Jewish Division is after 1903.
   I am aware that it does not have "latkes."
   I am also aware that "dreidel" is from the 19th century.  In the 1916
passage that I recently posted, a grandfather was recalling his youth in
Russia.

JINX--I didn't know if Gerald Cohen was going to post about this.  "Jinx"
brings back painful memories.  I posted my "jinx" information on ADS-L five
years ago, after my mother died on Friday, June 13, 1997.
   "Jynx" is not coming back.  It would be a theory, perhaps, if someone
presented a single pre-1920 citation with "jynx."  The usage gap is just too
large.
   "Jinx" was used most often in baseball.  I clearly showed that the term
became popular in 1911, and sports cartoonists (COE didn't use most of this)
were changing from "jinks" to "jinx."  I also found a citation for the
fictitious name "Calamatiy W. Jinx," in the humor magazine PUCK in the 1880s.
   "Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines" was a play in the early 1900s.  The
song was especially popular with the men who played baseball.  There's no
doubt in my mind that "jinx" comes from "jinks" comes from "Captain Jinks,
the curse of the army."
   Beyond "Captain Jinks" is really anyone's guess.  I  found that 1850s
"jinks" poem.  Charles Dickens also had a "Jinks" character.  We're going
several generations from "jinx," and it's really to far to speculate.
Probably, the "Captain Jinks" author has "high jinks" in mind when he wrote
the song.

WET FRIES--Yes, the Dow Jones database has "wet fries" from Atlanta in 1988.
But use "wets" and "fries" in the search.  You'll find a story in THE WALL
STREET JOURNAL, 22 February 1985, Ed Debevic's Diner in Chicago, "west
(french fries with gravy)."
   More on "poutine" and "Montreal smoked meat" tomorrow.  OED might want to
enter the latter under "Montreal."  See the featured story in GOURMET, June
2002.