Fwd: Re: perdiddle/padaddle - punch buggy

[Catherine Klein]

As children in Northern Illinois in the1960s, we said, "Slug bug, beetle
bug, no slugs back!" when we saw a VW bug.  We did not make reference to the
color of the car.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Erin McKean" <editor at VERBATIMMAG.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2002 1:39 PM
Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: perdiddle/padaddle - punch buggy


> I also played "punch buggy" in the late 70s/early 80s.
>
> A friend in Winston-Salem, NC had a variant called "Whack Truck" --
> if you saw a "Mack" model truck/semi (and ONLY a Mack truck/semi),
> you could whack the person next to you. For both, saying "no punch
> backs/whack backs" was needed or else you would be walloped right
> back. (I've never heard the "whack mack" from anywhere else, and, of
> course, Mack Trucks are rarer than VW Bugs.)
>
> In "punch buggy [color]," if, through excitement, bad lighting, or
> dirt on the sighted vehicle, the puncher said the wrong color,
> everyone in the car got to hit the mistaken person.
>
> I'm sure of all this made the drivers of the carpools very, very tired!
>
> -- Erin McKean
> editor at verbatimmag.com
>
> >>Punch buggy was a regular past time in our NJ/IN family in the 70's, and
> >>that's how we said it. The phrase was "Punch buggy [yellow] - no punch
> >>backs!" - making sure the other person didn't cheat and claim the same
car.
> >>
> >>Going through second-childhood college road trips in TX in the early
90's
> >>however, I was informed that the "correct" phrase was "Slug Bug!"
> >>
> >>Kathleen E. Miller
> >>Research Assistant to William Safire
> >>The New York Times
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>At 01:09 PM 3/6/02 -0500, you wrote:
> >>>Adding to what Lynne M says below, in the Cleveland, OH area (late 60s)
we
> >>>also had "paduncle" (sp?) when a rear light was out.  Both this and
padiddle
> >>>allowed the seer to kiss his/her date (the typical setting in which
this was
> >>>played).
> >>>
> >>>Also, let me add the game "Punch Buggy", which my kids and others in CT
play
> >>>now, and have for some years.  If one sees an old VW Beetle, one says
"Punch
> >>>Buggy [the color of the car]", and one then has the "right" to punch
another
> >>>kid.  Typically, one says, "Punch Buggy red" (or whatever) and
immediately
> >>>punches someone lightly on the upper arm.
> >>>
> >>>Frank Abate
> >>>
> >>>-----Original Message-----
> >>>From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
> >>>Of Lynne Murphy
> >>>Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2002 11:29 AM
> >>>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >>>Subject: perdiddle/padaddle
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>Actually, all this p[]diddle talk has suddenly made me remember...
> >>>we had a variation of our 'perdiddle' that was 'perdiddle/padaddle'.
You
> >>>said 'perdiddle' if the headlight was out, but 'padaddle' if one of the
> >>>rear lights was out.  I think you still hit or kissed in any case.
Google
> >>>search has nothing for 'padaddle'.  I'll check with folks from my
childhood
> >>>and see if I can get any confirmation.
> >>>
> >>>Lynne
> >>>
> >>>Dr M Lynne Murphy
> >>>Lecturer in Linguistics
> >>>Acting Director, MA in Applied Linguistics
> >>>School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences
> >>>University of Sussex
> >>>Brighton BN1 9QH
> >>>UK
> >>>
> >>>phone +44-(0)1273-678844
> >>>fax   +44-(0)1273-671320