Mickey D's=McDonald's

[Sam Clements]

I'm embarassed that I didn't look in RHDAS.  It never occured to me that
Mickey D's would be there.  That'll teach me.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Laurence Horn" <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2003 10:23 PM
Subject: Re: Mickey D's=McDonald's


> >While it may be mundane, there is a thread  over at the StraightDope
> >which intimates that the origin of the term "Mickey D's" for
> >McDonald's was originated in/or for the Black community.  Many
> >posters have offered that they first heard it in commercials in the
> >1980's, and many offered that Afro-American actors were in the
> >commercials.  I can't vouch for any of the memories.
> >
> >Can any database jockey find a cite for "Mickey D's" ?
> >
> >Sam Clements
>
> HDAS's first cite (via Nexis) is:
>
> 1977 Wash. Post
> At midnight, McDonald's--fondly known as Mickey D's to those who
> follow the fast-food circuit--is jam-packed with black teenagers who
> have just left the roller-skating rink.
>
> The next cite is from the N. Y. Daily News in 1983, a listing in a
> "Teentalk glossary", followed by a couple of U. of Tennessee cites.
>
> The given cites are consistent with, but not probative of, an origin
> of the type suggested above, and there is a much later (1992) cite
> from "In Living Color".  But the 1977 quote would presumably predate
> the commercials in question.
>
> larry
>