"Kicktales"--mispronunciation of "cocktails"

[Gerald Cohen]

At 10:59 PM -0400 7/7/02, Fred Shapiro wrote:
>I received this question from a colleague:
>
>>  A book of jokes and humorous anecdotes collected by a Richmond
>>  lawyer, John G. May, Jr., is entitled "Courtroom Kicktales"
>>  (Charlottesville, VA: Michie, 1964). The author uses "kicktales"
>>  as a synonym for "jokes" as in "The following three kicktales as
>>  told by Judge John C. Williams." Have you ever come across this
>>  expression? It is not in the OED, Lighter, DARE, or several other
>>  sources. A Google search for "kicktales" produced no hits and
>>  "kicktale" (singular) produced just one, referring to a part on
>>  some device for racing in water (I couldn't tell what). I would
>>  appreciate any information about the word.
>
>I am not familiar with the word; has anyone else encountered it?
>
>Fred Shapiro


The answer is found on page 59 of _Courtroom Kicktales_, under the
heading "LAPSUS LINGUAE":
        "Mrs. Elegant, who flung the party at Newport, had John Smith
arrested for using obscene language. She was on the stand at the
trial.
        Mrs. Elegant: 'I had invited John solely because he is the
son of an old friend.  When sober there was little connection between
his brain and tongue, and when he had several drinks they parted
company altogether.  When the guests were leaving he was telling me
what a good time he had had, finally coming out with : "Ah, I tell
you, Mrs. Elegant, them kicktails had one on them like a mule."'
        Judge Smaht; 'I shall dismiss the defendant under the
principle of lapsus linguae [slip of the tongue to my friends in
Hoboken]."

******
Btw, "lapsus linguae" in the last sentence appears in italics, and
the bracketed comment at the very end ("slip of the tongue to my
friends in Hoboken) is made by the author, John May. And the judge's
name is spelled "Smaht" (with -h-).
    So "kicktales" may be understood as "tales with a kick," just as
the cocktails that John Smith drank had a kick like a mule. The book
consists of jokes, humorous anecdotes, humorous poems etc.

Gerald Cohen