"Scuzzcrack" & "Pimpmobile"

Tue Feb 8 16:14:55 UTC 2005

Years ago, when my wife was very invovled with our grade-school
parents' acssociation, there was a member of the local school board
whom she invariably referred to as "that scumbag Arnie Cohen*" -- well,
maybe she didn't use the honorific when talking at PA meetings, but at
the dinner table, always.  (*Name changed to protect the innocent.)

GAT

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.

----- Original Message -----
From: James Smith <jsmithjamessmith at YAHOO.COM>
Date: Monday, February 7, 2005 8:12 am
Subject: Re: "Scuzzcrack" & "Pimpmobile"

> 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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