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

Sun Nov 14 10:24:19 UTC 2004

Wilson's reply brings to mind Moe Bandy's song "Bandy the Rodeo Clown".

Page Stephens

----- Original Message -----
From: "Wilson Gray" <wilson.gray at RCN.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2004 9:44 PM
Subject: Re: "Cut off my legs and call me shorty" (1939)

> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "Cut off my legs and call me shorty" (1939)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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.
>>