"Scuzzcrack" & "Pimpmobile"

[Wilson Gray]

Oh, please, Jon!;-) Sterile pseudo-slang and fake vulgarities designed
to pass censorship have no legs and are totally devoid of soul. Have
you ever heard anyone seriously use "scuzz[whatever] or even that hoary
old chestnut, "scumbag," in real life? Well, "scumbag," perhaps, in its
other meaning of "safe," i.e. "condom."

Of course, you may very well be completely right.

-Wilson

On Feb 4, 2005, at 9:01 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "Scuzzcrack" & "Pimpmobile"
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> "Scumbag" comes close:
>
> "Isn't he the scuzzcrack who fired you from Yearbook?"..."You fired
> me, remember? Because you're a scuzzcrack!"
>
> JL
> Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Wilson Gray
> Subject: Re: "Scuzzcrack" & "Pimpmobile"
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> What is the meaning of "scuzzcrack"? It's not as obvious as that of
> "pimpmobile."
>
> -Wilson
>
> On Feb 3, 2005, at 10:26 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>> Poster: Jonathan Lighter
>> Subject: "Scuzzcrack" & "Pimpmobile"
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> -
>> --------
>>
>> The possibility that Wilson may be the inglorious Milton who coined
>> "pimpmobile" reminds me that back on Oct. 22 I reported two
>> occurrences of the word "scuzzcrack" on CBS's "Joan of Arcadia" that
>> evening, a word which had not appeared on the Net or anywhere else
>> that I was aware of.
>>
>> Despite its simultaneous reception in millions of American homes,
>> there is still no evidence of wider usage more than 90 days later.
>>
>> So if Wilson set "pimpmobile" afloat in 1963 without the aid of mass
>> media, we reasonably might not expect it to surface till sometime in
>> the mid 22nd century.
>>
>> A quick Google check uncovers about one quarter million examples of
>> "pimpmobile" on the Web alone. I am sorry to report, therefore, that
>> any claim in favor of Wilson's unique ownership of this word for
>> copyright, trademark, or servicemark purposes is likely to be
>> staunchly contested.
>>
>> JL
>>
>> Wilson Gray wrote:
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>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>> Poster: Wilson Gray
>> Subject: Re: "Dittybop / Dittybopper"
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>> -
>> --------
>>
>> On Feb 3, 2005, at 9:38 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>>> Poster: Jonathan Lighter
>>> Subject: Re: "Dittybop / Dittybopper"
>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
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>>> -
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>>>
>>> Thanks, Wilson. The military sense must be fairly obscure, since I
>>> just discovered it and it seems to go back to the '50s among Morse
>>> operators. Pretty expressive, though.
>>>
>>> As for "pimpmobile," it seems to have taken a full decade for your
>>> creation to have reached the print media.
>>>
>>> JL
>>
>> You know what gives me the jaws (there's a bit in HDAS about this use
>> of "jaws"; can't recall at the moment whether it has this particular
>> version) about "pimpmobile"? There's simply no way to find out whether
>> I'm really *the* source. It's such an obvious coinage that any number
>> of other people could have come up with it any number of times. It's
>> even possible that the first person to use the word in print coined it
>> independently. Sigh! No 15 minutes of fame for me.
>>
>> -Wilson
>>
>>
>>> Wilson Gray wrote:
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>> -----------------------
>>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>>> Poster: Wilson Gray
>>> Subject: Re: "Dittybop / Dittybopper"
>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
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>>> -
>>> --------
>>>
>>> When I was a teenager in the 'Fifties in St. Louis,
>>> "dittybop(p)er"/diddybop(per)" was a fairly mild insult that meant
>>> something like "wannabe hipster." There was no verb form.
>>>
>>> Unfortunately, when I was in The War, I didn't have occasion to come
>>> into contact with any Morse-code operators. More useless information:
>>> when teletypy is heard on a voice channel, it sounds like Morse code
>>> to
>>> the untutored ear. Or at least it did on the equipment available in
>>> the
>>> late '50's.
>>>
>>> -Wilson Gray
>>>
>>>
>>> On Feb 1, 2005, at 8:26 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>>
>>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>> -----------------------
>>>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>>>> Poster: Jonathan Lighter
>>>> Subject: "Dittybop / Dittybopper"
>>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> -
>>>> -
>>>> -
>>>> --------
>>>>
>>>> Have discovered that besides their tedious old meanings, so familiar
>>>> that I needn't bore you with them, these words have been used in the
>>>> military with the senses "high-speed Morse operator" and "high-speed
>>>> Morse receiver/transmitter." To "dittybop" also means "to transmit
>>>> Morse code at high speed."
>>>>
>>>> Can any of my distinguished colleagues and consultants add anything
>>>> to
>>>> the above from personal experience ?
>>>>
>>>> JL
>>>>
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>>
>>
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