Mongo

[Page Stephens]

Mongo Santamaria is a jazz musician and a very good one.

It was a cheap joke on the part of Mel Brooks which shows how little most
people who do not play music or know anything about it know about jazz.

Mongo! :) Santamaria!

Page Stephens

PS I do not have any idea where he got his name.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 11:28 AM
Subject: Re: Mongo


> ---------------------- Information from the mail
header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Mongo
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
>
> On Jul 15, 2004, at 6:07 AM, Page Stephens wrote:
>
> > 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.
>
> this "mongo" -- 'huge' (and also 'very many/much') -- might well have
> its origin in Blazing Saddles; at least, that's the earliest cite HDAS
> (which glosses it HUMONGOUS, suggesting that as a derivation) has.
> almost surely a different word from the trash "mongo".
>
> arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)