"Cut off my legs and call me shorty" (1939)

Sun Nov 14 02:44:14 UTC 2004

On Nov 13, 2004, at 8:44 PM, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Bapopik at AOL.COM
> Subject:      "Cut off my legs and call me shorty" (1939)
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> I ran across this (perhaps Fred Shapiro-worthy):
>
>
> http://www.livejournal.com/users/teegerthelemur/friends
> Random sayings I found on a website......
>
> "I'm off like a bride's nightgown"
> "Your ass is grass and I'm the lawn mower"

In the Army in the '50's, "Your ass is grass, etc." was a common saying
(still?) used by Basic-Training cadre.

> "Busier than a one legged cat tryin' to bury shit on a marble floor."
> "Well cut off my legs and call me shorty!"

As a child in Texas, I used to hear a variant: "Lordy, Lordy,
nineteen-forty! Cut my legs and call me 'Shorty'!"
Sheriff Mike Shaw, a character on the old "Tom Mix" radio show, used to
say, "Well, bow my legs and call me "Bandy!"

-Wilson Gray

> "Sounds like a manure salesman with a mouthful of samples."
> http://www.barrypopik.com/
>
>
> I've done some of these, but not all.
>
> MANURE SALESMAN + SAMPLES--71 Google hits, 63 Google Groups hits
> LEGS + CALL ME SHORTY--787 Google hits, 330 Google Groups hits
>
>
> (GOOGLE GROUPS)("manure salesman")
> Re: Barker and sex
> ... You sound like a manure salesman * * with a mouth full of
> samples!" -
> Joel (MST3K) * ---
> alt.horror - Aug 21, 1992 by Cindy Ketterling - View Thread (10
> articles)
>
> MST'ing "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves"
> ... Robin C. Kwong ("er) "Hey, can you speak up? You sound like a
> manure
> salesman with a mouthful of samples." --Joel, "Rocket Attack USA"
> alt.tv.mst3k - Jul 8, 1992 by roberta chi-woon kwong - View Thread (4
> articles)
>
> Re: SMEG, not smegma
> ... You sound like a manure salesman * * with a mouth full of
> samples!" -
> Joel (MST3K) * --- I'm ...
> alt.tv.red-dwarf - Jun 16, 1992 by D N Crow - View Thread (23 articles)
>
> Re: puma
> ... You sound like a manure salesman * * with a mouth full of
> samples!" -
> Joel (MST3K) * --- By ...
> alt.tv.mst3k - May 5, 1992 by Cindy Ketterling - View Thread (6
> articles
>
>
> (WWW.NEWSPAPERARCHIVE.COM)
>    Mountain Democrat    Friday, April 16, 1999 Placerville, California
> ...The reasoning reminds me of a MANURE SALESMAN with a mouthful of
> the..
>
>
>
> (GOOGLE GROUPS) ("call me shorty")
> Re: That Hotel in the Keys that's underwater...You know the one. ...
> Well cut off my legs, and call me shorty!!!! : Key Largo, even. I
> will be less hasty abt poking fun at the idea. I have to ask... ...
> alt.fishing - Mar 8, 1991 by Alan Barrow - View Thread (3 articles)
>
> Re: Return values in pipelines
> echo "Cut off mee legs an' call me shorty if it ain't wrong! Lessee:"
> I see
> the Dutch have been trying to internationalise their error messages...
> ...
> comp.unix.questions - Aug 24, 1990 by Richard Tobin - View Thread (5
> articles)
>
>
> (WWW.NEWSPAPERARCHIVE.COM)
>    Helena Independent   Friday, August 04, 1939 Helena, Montana
> ...bucks you ran cut off my legs and CALL ME SHORTY William Powell.
> back fit
> work.....BfcUCVR 1M MOW WOUI.U YOU KNOW RUALJZE ME MAY THAY HOW CAM
> AP6HSON
> WlTW ANY..
> Pg. 10, col. 1 (HARRISON IN HOLLYWOOD by Paul Harrison):
> Hollywood, Aug. 3.--Short takes: When the standing of the Ritz
> Brothers were
> offered $50 each for some stunt doubling, Sam Canter, one of the
> three, said,
> "For 50 bucks you can cut off my legs and call me Shorty!"
>
>    Reno Evening Gazette     Saturday, June 22, 1940 Reno, Nevada
> ...endorsing "Cut Off My Heels and CALL ME SHORTY." cases, the songs
> the.....human being among all the millions who CALL this water-girt
> island their hoME
> ..
>
>    Lime Springs Herald  Thursday, November 07, 1940 Lime Springs, Iowa
> ...Hegland. Cut Off My Heels and CALL ME SHORTY Harold Munkel. Night.
> Send ME
> .....for hones and cows with good hides. CALL as for yoar small
> nlfiiiila
> too..
>
>  Daily Gleaner  Thursday, December 01, 1949 Kingston, Kingston
> ...Players LaMEnt Cut Off My Lew And CALL ME SHORTY Harlem Stop a m
> You've
> Got ME.....Be a Lesson To You SoMEthing Tells ME Jubilee MExican Swing
> Satchel
> Mouth..
>
>  Daily Gleaner  Monday, December 05, 1949 Kingston, Kingston
> ...LaMEnt Cut Off.My Lew And-CALL ME SHORTY Harlem Stop You've Got ME
> .....Family Solitude Thanks a Million ME And ME Brother Bill Savoy
> Blues LoVe..
>
>  Daily Times News   Thursday, November 02, 1967 Burlington, North
> Carolina
> ...In Free Well, Cut Off My Legs And CALL ME SHORTY This may appear to
> be a
> chorus.....coach should have a chauffeur he can CALL his own. Paul
> Dietzel,
> recuperating..
>
>
> (PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
>     1.  'You Are What You Eat' Adage Is the Long and Short of It
> By Ida Jean Kain. The Washington Post (1877-1954). Washington, D.C.:
> Jun 16,
> 1947. p. B5 (1 page) :
> _CUT OFF MY BREAD AND CALL ME SHORTY_
>
>     2.  Actor With Guitar
> HOWARD THOMPSON.. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.:
> Jul 4,
> 1958. p. 15 (1 page):
> AS the lad himself might say, cut my legs off and call me Shorty! Elvis
> Presley can act.
>