Mongo

[Page Stephens]

Do any of you remember the complaints about the name Mongo which Mel Brooks
used for a huge dimwitted person played by Alex Karras as I recall in
"Blazing Saddles"?

Defenders of the retarded got up in arms and accused Brooks of insulting the
retarded by calling them mongoloids.

Brooks then had to explain to them that it had nothing whatsoever to do with
any insult but was merely a cheap joke since when Mongo rides into town a
Mexican shouts out, "Mongo, Santamaria!".

I trust you know the reference.

Page Stephens

----- Original Message -----
From: "Grant Barrett" <gbarrett at WORLDNEWYORK.ORG>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 9:56 AM
Subject: Re: Mongo


> ---------------------- Information from the mail
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Grant Barrett <gbarrett at WORLDNEWYORK.ORG>
> Subject:      Re: Mongo
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
>
> I couldn't take it quite as far back as David, but I put up an entry on
> "mongo" a few weeks ago:
>
> http://doubletongued.org/index.php/mongo/
>
> G
>
> On Jul 14, 2004, at 08:43, Geoff Nathan wrote:
>
> > I hope I'm not violating this list's etiquette here, but this morning
> > I was
> > reading the news on CNN's website and found an apparently
> > well-established
> > word that isn't in the list's archive (at least not as far back as the
> > easy
> > search) nor is it in OED or AHD.  The word is 'mongo', meaning
> > high-quality, cast-off furniture and other stuff found on the
> > street.  There's a new book about it--you can read about it
> > here:
> > http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Northeast/07/13/trash.furniture.reut/
> > index.html
> >
> > Geoff
> >
> > (FWIW Mongo is also a unit of currency in Mongolia, apparently)
> >
> >