"Scuzzcrack" & "Pimpmobile"

[James Smith]

I hear "scuzz", "scuzzy", "scuzzbag", "scumbag" (not
the "other" meaning), and "dirtbag" used frequently.



--- Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:

> 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
> > -----------------------
> > 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
> >> -----------------------
> >> 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:
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header
> >> -----------------------
> >> Sender: American Dialect Society
> >> Poster: Wilson Gray
> >> Subject: Re: "Dittybop / Dittybopper"
> >>
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> -
> >> --------
> >>
> >> On Feb 3, 2005, at 9:38 AM, Jonathan Lighter
> wrote:
> >>
> >>> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header
> >>> -----------------------
> >>> Sender: American Dialect Society
> >>> Poster: Jonathan Lighter
> >>> Subject: Re: "Dittybop / Dittybopper"
> >>>
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>> -
> >>> -
> >>> --------
> >>>
> >>> 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"
> >>>
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>> -
> >>> -
> >>> --------
> >>>
> >>> 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"
> >>>>
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------
>
=== message truncated ===


=====
James D. SMITH                 |If history teaches anything
South SLC, UT                  |it is that we will be sued
jsmithjamessmith at yahoo.com     |whether we act quickly and decisively
                               |or slowly and cautiously.

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