Pep & Vinegar (1915), Pickles & Vinegar (no "piss")

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http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20000308
The trouble with discussing this phrase is the "shedding light on it" part.
The Oxford English Dictionary's earliest citation for it is from its 1942
mention in The American Thesaurus of Slang by Berrey & Van Den Bark, but we have a
citation in our files from Steinbeck's 1938 The Grapes of Wrath: "'How ya
keepin' yaself?' 'Full a piss an' vinegar.'" If Steinbeck had a character use a
phrase in speech and didn't gloss it, then the phrase had to have already been
familiar for some time before he recorded it. There are also plenty of
citations going forward from that date, all the way up to Bart's declaration in a 1994
episode of The Simpsons: "I'm full of piss and vinegar."

However, we still haven't turned up anything earlier than the Steinbeck
citation, which makes it hard to know where the phrase comes from. There is
certainly a similar expression with the identical meaning, "full of beans," which
goes back to 1854. There's an expression "full of piss and wind" which means
'full of blustering talk; pretentious' that dates to 1922. There's also Kyne's
"He's full of pep and vinegar" (They Also Serve, 1927) that may indicate a
euphemistic treatment of "piss"; certainly the sense of vinegar alone meaning
'vitality' was already part of campus slang in the 1920s.

It could just be that the 1920s provenances of vinegar meaning 'vim',"piss
and wind," and "pep and vinegar" all combine to mean that some slick-haired
co-ed came up with the combination of pungent liquids in the expression. In fact,
they've been combined before: there is an expression "to piss vinegar" that
goes back to 1602, meaning 'to be miserly'. This gave rise to the 18th-century
"vinegar-pisser," a 'miser'. If there is any connection between these meanings
and piss-and-vinegar vitality, it seems exactly the sort that a college
student might make.

Wendalyn


   We have earlier than 1927 for "pep and vinegar."  It's at least from 1915.
 (Also, search for the full "pepper and vinegar.")
   I would mention the word combination "pickles and vinegar."  A few
citations are given below.  It may not be relevant, but it's another "p-- and
vinegar."


(NEWSPAPERARCHIVE.COM)
Fort Wayne News - 11/30/1915
...west minois for a lot of youngsters with PEP AND VINEGAR. THE PROTESTANT
LEAGUE.....Mr. AND Mrs. W. H. Brindle AND Miss Dot AND Harold Zwissig spent
Thursday with Mr.....Do well. Mr. AND Mrs. A. C. Baker AND Mr. AND Mrs. J. O.
Logan spent Thursday with Mr.....Bloomington, Ind. Mr. AND Mrs. Myrtle Woods AND
Miss Ruby Meyerg spent Saturday AND..
Fort Wayne, Indiana Tuesday, November 30, 1915  927 k

Woodland Daily Democrat - 1/11/1919
...AND OverlAND joy cars is brim full of PEP AND VINEGAR ouar prospects for
1919, AND the.....Travis ant family AND Mrs. Jas. W. Travis AND son, Mr. AND
Ifrs. C. Li. Lowrey, Mr. AND.....about face, be happy that victory is ours, AND
get our full share of business AND.....services at 11. This is the roll-call
AND election of officers day, AND a full..
Woodland, California Saturday, January 11, 1919  523 k

Appleton Post Crescent - 11/24/1928
...monkey" suits --everybody is. bubbling with PEP AND VINEGAR." "OEddie"
iCotal'sleg injury.....AND a good punch. Monte seldom could AND a solid blow
while the German hit" hard.....for his fights. .AND quit training, boxing AND road
work. Wisconsin AND Purdue are about.....will bear burden of ball totting
again AND be assisted Gehrman AND Jacobs will other..
Appleton, Wisconsin Saturday, November 24, 1928  1195 k

clearfield_progress_ - 5/23/1925
...Drive Of American Legion Needs Some PEP AND VINEGAR The present membership
drive.....ed. Every man AND woman who has be added PEP to start this final
lap, cles are hard.....probable that he would risk coming to earth AND plant a
flag AND claim the lAND in the.....region. Authorities well versed in weather
AND sea conditions AND the frozen north..
Clearfield, Pennsylvania Saturday, May 23, 1925  704 k

Woodland Daily Democrat - 3/4/1919
...county baseball i league would arouse more PEP AND VINEGAR than all the
Coast AND Trolt.....team to play here, there or anywhere. Harry AND Bill Holmes
AND Dewey Killian, champion.....Esparto victory; Frank Nlssen, Tom McCants AND
Paul Stephens, guards invincible; AND.....may spring a Willie Ritchie on the
boys AND come-back, although he officially AND..
Woodland, California Tuesday, March 04, 1919  504 k



(NEWSPAPERARCHIVE.COM)
Stevens Point Daily Journal - 4/16/1881
...Good coffee for 15 ceats at Stone's. Good PICKLES AND VINEGAR at Stone's.
Good apples.....nuw maple sugar at Stone's. Late at Mixed PICKLES by the pint,
quart or gal lon. Choice.....pied by Potter Bro.'s, grocery AND boot AND sooe
store AND H 'B Martin's drug AND.....acres, Lyman. Elizabeth G., Hiram li.
AND Hettie M. Little AND Ella N. AND Lizzie L..
Stevens Point, Wisconsin Saturday, April 16, 1881  750 k

Stevens Point Journal - 9/15/1906
...been ascertained by ment that ft dier of PICKLES AND VINEGAR, If persisted
in Ions.....AND a girl aged one AND one-half years, AND then went to the home
of a neighbor AND.....on my ehest AND body AND extend upwards AND downwards,
so that my neck AND face were.....denatured alcohol costs 20 cents a gallon,
AND it is used for beat, light AND motors..
Stevens Point, Wisconsin Saturday, September 15, 1906  792 k

Gettysburg Compiler - 7/15/1884
...miXi AND' put in tiiu cucumbers AND PICKLES AND VINEGAR to getlier, but.
will.....tho PICKLES an large they may bo quartered, AND tin VINEGAR will
strike through them.....AND put them in a jar, AND turn on the VINEGAR. Take. half
as ninny sugar its.....of inino tells me Urn she prcparc-s all PICKLES for the
table AND puts them up in..
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Tuesday, July 15, 1884  1309 k

Sandusky Star - 9/14/1904
...Tea, bread AND butter, cold meats, PICKLES AND VINEGAR ad lib. SUPPER AT
8. Gruel, bread.....vegetable, suet pudding AND on Thursdays AND Sundays plum
pudding AND apples AND.....hydants at Bennett Bros.' Lumber Co., Depot AND Camp
streets, AND Mills AND Adams streets.....of rear entries AND alleyways,
electric AND other wires over roofs, AND generally..
Sandusky, Ohio Wednesday, September 14, 1904  564 k

Holland Evening Sentinel - 5/16/1962
...Heinz of HollAND has been manufacturing i PICKLES AND VINEGAR in this
"Tulip" community.....selling tomatoes. Americans are eating more PICKLES AND
pickle relishes than ever before.....to the cucumbers, of course, are the VINEGAR,
salt, sugar, AND the spices AND.....In recent years the sale of PICKLES AND
relishes has risen five times as..
Holland, Michigan Wednesday, May 16, 1962  888 k

Nevada State Journal - 4/22/1942
...Tarragon Leaves used to flavor salads, PICKLES AND VINEGAR, Testing
Reveals Milk.....AND meat sauces, Muslard Seed used for PICKLES. Mint, Used lo
flavor meal sauces AND.....Dill Seed AND leaves used in making dill PICKLES, in
omelets AND salads.....AND oil fuels, grass AND brush near barns AND haystacks,
farm equipment, AND..
Reno, Nevada Wednesday, April 22, 1942  846 k