African American Folklore (2002)

[Wilson Gray]

On Feb 14, 2005, at 3:26 PM, George Thompson wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       George Thompson <george.thompson at NYU.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: African American Folklore (2002)
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
>> "Gettin' more ass than a toilet seat."  In movie The Deer Hunter
>> (1979), cited in HDAS.
>
> Heard from a college student in the early 1960s, in Boston.
>
> GAT
>
> George A. Thompson
> Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
> Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.

Heard from a college student in the early 1960's in Los Angeles. There
was also a version used to describe a woman: "She got more ass than a
toilet seat," i.e. she "pack much back" in the Sir-Mix-A-Lotian sense.

If this had spread from one end of the country to the other by then, it
makes me wish that there was a Federal Catch-Phrase Authority to which
the inventor of such a phrase would have to report.

-Wilson

>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Date: Sunday, February 13, 2005 6:30 pm
> Subject: Re: African American Folklore (2002)
>
>> "What I mean, jelly-bean!"  NYC white kids, 1959.
>>
>> "Gettin' more ass than a toilet seat."  In movie The Deer Hunter
>> (1979), cited in HDAS.
>>
>> "So skinny, when she cries the tears run down her back."
>> Kingston, NY, white kid, ca1970.
>>
>> Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------
>> ------------
>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>> Poster: Wilson Gray
>> Subject: Re: African American Folklore (2002)
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ------------
>>
>> On Feb 12, 2005, at 2:47 AM, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
>>
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>> -----------------------
>>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>>> Poster: Bapopik at AOL.COM
>>> Subject: African American Folklore (2002)
>>> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>> ------
>>> --------
>>>
>>> Even "I must develop my bust" is here!...ProQuest is down right now,
>>> so I'll search these with Newspaperarchive.
>>
>> "I must develop my bust"?!!! Well, after a half-century of
>> desegregation and contamination, what can one expect?
>>
>> More random stuff below.
>>
>> -Wilson Gray
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> FROM MY PEOPLE:
>>> 400 YEARS OF AFICAN AMERICAN FOLKLORE
>>> edited by Caryl Cumber Dance
>>> New York: W. W. Norton
>>> 2002
>>>
>>> Pg. 470 (Aphorisms and Other Proverbial Sayings):
>>> God don't like ugly.
>>> Hard head, soft behind.
>>>
>>> Pg. 471:
>>> You can kill a man, but you can't kill an idea.--Medgar Evans.
>>>
>>> Pg. 480:
>>> _I'll Eat Hen I'm Hungry_
>>> From Thomas W. Talley, _Negro Folk Rhymes_
>>>
>>> I'll eat when I'se hungry,
>>> An' I'll rink when I'se dry;
>>> An' if de whitefolks don't kill me,
>>> I'll live till I die.
>>>
>>> In my liddle log cabin,
>>> Ever since I've been born;
>>> Dere hain't been no nothin'
>>> 'Cept dat hard salt parch corn.
>>> Pg. 481:
>>> But I knows what's a henhouse,
>>> An' de tucky he charve;
>>> An' if old Mosser don't kill me,
>>> I cain't never starve.
>>>
>>> _Aught's a Aughts_
>>> Traditional
>>>
>>> An aught's a aught and a figger's a figger;
>>> All for the white folks and none for the nigger.
>>>
>>> Pg. 509:
>>> _Hambone, Hambone_
>>> This traditional clapping game may be played with a partner or one
>>> indiv,; slap his thigh as he recites. Additional lines may be
>>> improvised.
>>>
>>> Hambone, Hambone, where you been?
>>> Round the world and back again.
>>>
>>> Hambone, Hambone, what'd you do?
>>> I got a train and I fairly flew.
>>>
>>> Hambone, Hambone, where'd you stay?
>>> I met a pretty girl and I couldn't get away.
>>>
>>> Hambone, Hambone, where'd you go?
>>> I hopped up to Miss Lucy's door.
>>>
>>> Hambone, Hambone, what's you see?
>>> I asked Miss Lucy to marry me.
>>>
>>> Pg. 511:
>>> _We Must, We Must, We Must_
>>> From Daryl Cumber Dance, _Honey, Hush!_
>>> WHen I recorded this verse on May 21, 1995, the singer told me she
>>> learned it in gym class in the 1950s, but as she sang a younger
>> woman> joined her, suggesting that it has passed on to the next
>> generation.>
>>> We must, we must, we must,
>>> We must develop our bust.
>>>
>>> We must, we must, we must,
>>> We must develop our bust.
>>>
>>> The bigger the better,
>>> The tighter the sweater.
>>> The boys are depending on us.
>>>
>>> Pg. 526 (Autograph Album Rhymes, from J. Mason Brewer, _Worser Days
>>> and Better Times_):
>>> Love all, trust few;
>>> Learn to paddle your own canoe.
>>>
>>> Pg. 527:
>>> When you marry and get out of shape,
>>> Get you a girdle for $2.98.
>>>
>>> The Mississippi River is deep and wide;
>>> Catch an alligator to the other side.
>>>
>>> Girls are made of sugar and spice;
>>> Boys aren't made, they just shoot dice.
>>>
>>> When you get old and think you're sweet,
>>> Take off your shoes, and smell your feet.
>>>
>>> I wish you luck, I wish you joy,
>>> I wish you first a baby boy;
>>> And when his hair beings to curl,
>>> I wish you next a baby girl;
>>> And when her hair begins to knot,
>>> I guess you know it's time to stop.
>>>
>>> Ice cream city, candy state,
>>> This sweet letter don't need no date.
>>>
>>> Up on a house top, baking a cake,
>>> The way I love you is no mistake.
>>>
>>> Pg. 528:
>>> I don't make love by the garden gate,
>>> For love is blind, but the neighbors ain't.
>>>
>>> I've got a cute little shape, and a pretty little figure;
>>> Stand back, big boys, until I get a little bigger!
>>>
>>> I love you once, I love you twice;
>>> Baby, I love you next to Jesus Christ.
>>
>> I love you so much that I'd kill a brick for you.
>>
>>>
>>> Milk is milk, cheese is cheese;
>>> What is a kiss without a squeeze?
>>>
>>> You're my morning milk, my evening cream,
>>> My all-day study, and my midnight dream.
>>>
>>> Roses on my shoulders, slippers on my feet;
>>> I'm my mother's baby, don't you think I'm sweet?
>>>
>>> Apples on the shelf, peaches in the bowl,
>>> Can't get a sweetheart to save my soul.
>>>
>>> Up on the mountain, five feet high,
>>> I love you, baby, that ain't no lie.
>>>
>>> Pg. 529:
>>> When you get married and have twenty-four,
>>> Don't stop there, the Army needs lots more.
>>>
>>> When you get married and your husband gets drunk,
>>> Put him in the trunk and sell him for junk.
>>>
>>> When you get married and have twenty-five,
>>> Daon't call it a family, call it a tribe!
>>>
>>> The river is wide, the boat is floating,
>>> Darling, let's marry and stop this courting!
>>>
>>> Ice is ice, rice is rice;
>>> One day, baby, you'll be my wife.
>>>
>>> Apples on the table, peaches on the shelf,
>>> Baby, I'm getting tired of sleeping by myself.
>>>
>>> When you get married and live in China,
>>> Rememeber me back in old North Carolina.
>>>
>>> Life is sweet, life is swell,
>>> But when you marry, life is hell.
>>>
>>> When you marry and live across the lake,
>>> Send me a kiss by a rattlesnake.
>>>
>>> When you get married and live upstairs,
>>> DOn't fall down putting on airs.
>>>
>>> When you marry don't marry a cook,
>>> Marry a man with a fat pocketbook.
>>>
>>> When you marry and live across the sea,
>>> Send me a cocoanut C.O.D.
>>>
>>> Lions in the cage, monkeys in the zoo,
>>> Who wants to marry a fool like you?
>>>
>>> Pg. 530:
>>> If you don't like my apples, don't shake my tree;
>>
>> You're the cutest thing that I did ever see.
>> I really love your peaches. Gonna shake your tree.
>>
>> If you don't like my peaches, don't you shake my tree.
>>
>>> I ain't after your man, he's after me.
>>>
>>> When you get married and live out west,
>>> I'll send your mail by the Jigger express.
>>>
>>> Pg. 531 (Rhymes and Brags from Muhammad Ali, formerly Cassius Clay)
>>> I'm so mean, I make medicine sick.--Neil Leifer and Thomas Hauser,
>>> _Muhammad Ali Memories_
>>>
>>> Pg. 549:
>>> _More Dozens_
>>> Because the dozens is such an obscene exchange, no attempt is
>> made to
>>> reproduce a game here. Rather I present some carefully chosen
>> standard> lines from the game.
>>>
>>> Yo' mama's like a bag of chips. She free to lay.
>>> Yo' mama's so dumb she tripped over a cordless phone.
>>> Yo' mama's so stupid it takes her two hours to watch _60 Minutes_.
>>> Yo' mama's so dumb she thought she could send a voice mail by
>>> screaming into a envelope.
>>> Yo' mama's so bald she gets brainwashed when she takes a shower.
>>>
>>> Pg. 550:
>>> Yo' mama's in the kitchen; yo' daddy's in jail;
>>> yo' sister on de corner offering it for sale.
>>>
>>> _Insults_
>>>
>>> Happy birthday to you,
>>> You belong in a zoo.
>>> You look like a monkey,
>>> And smell like one too!
>>>
>>> My name is Ran,
>>> I work in the sand;
>>> I'd rather be a nigger
>>> Than a poor White man.
>>>
>>> White folks think they fine,
>>> But their raggedy drawers stink just like mine.
>>>
>>> He is so ugly he has to _sneak_ up on a mirror.
>>
>> He's two shades darker than Bell's telephone. (clearly older than
>> "black is beautiful" and the break-up of Ma Bell.)
>>
>> He's of Indian descent: Choctaw. The lightest [sc. shade of skin in
>> his family] is chocolate; the darkest is tar.
>>
>> He's so ugly that, when he cries, the tears roll down the back of
>> his head.
>>
>> He's so ugly that it looks like he's been in an ax fight and
>> everybody had an ax but him.
>>
>>>
>>> Pg. 551:
>>> At least my mama ain't no doorknob,
>>> Everybody get a turn.
>>>
>>> Least my mama ain't no railroad track,
>>> Lay out all over the country.
>>>
>>> _Retorts_
>>>
>>> Tell the truth, snaggle tooth.
>>> What you mean, jelly bean?
>>
>> See what I mean, jelly bean?
>> You heard what I said, nappy head.
>> Step out on the patio, daddy-o.
>> Make like Ezzard and hit the desert.
>>>
>>> Pg. 552:
>>> See you later, Alligator.
>>> After while, Crocodile.
>>>
>>> I dig all jive.
>>> That's the reason I stay alive.
>>>
>>> Your eyes may shine, your teeth may grit,
>>> But none of this food will you git.
>>
>> Baby, I'm 500% more man.
>> I lay more pipe than a plumber can.
>>
>> After I take a leak, I don't shake it off.
>> I take my left foot and kick it off.
>>
>> She got mo' ass than a toilet seat. (Said in response to the
>> previous observation) Better mo' ass than no ass.
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> (NEWSPAPERARCHIVE)
>>> Charleroi Mail Friday, December 01, 1950 Charleroi, Pennsylvania
>>> ...Wilson in v.luch eyes MAY YOUR TEETH MAY GRIT. Hut none of my
>> money> Will you.....sides arc still alking indicates there MAY be
>> scTine ope
>>> left. When Girl Portia..
>>>
>>> Daily Register Saturday, December 23, 1950 Harrisburg, Illinois
>>> ...her: "YOUR eyes MAY shine. YOUR TEETH MAY GRIT. But none of my
>>> money Will you.....a Merry a New Year Holland's HOLIDAY MAY YOUR
>>> Holiday Cheer go on and on REES..
>>>
>>>
>>> Edwardsville Intelligencer Wednesday, July 08, 1964 Edwardsville,
>>> Illinois
>>> ...you DON'T want MY peaches, DON'T SHAKE MY TREE. When you saw a
>>> red-haired girl.....Neutral IS A Nice GearBut DON'T You Have Any
>>> GOLDWATER--ATRAGEDY..
>>>
>>>
>>> Lancaster Eagle Gazette Thursday, July 18, 1974 Lancaster, Ohio
>>> ...a brick. I'm so mean I MAKE MEDICINE SICK. The occasion for
>>> Ali's.....now than ever before which could MAKE up for some
>> parts .of
>>> my game that..
>>>
>>>
>>> Mountain Democrat Friday, February 17, 1989 Placerville, California
>>> ...I wIsh YOU luck, I wIsh YOU JOY, "I wIsh YOU fIrst a BABY
>> BOY. "AND
>>> when hIs.....haIr begIns to curl, I wIsh YOU then a BABY gIrl. AND
>>> when her..
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Post Standard Friday, August 23, 1991 Syracuse, New York
>>> ...comment on that situation and I 'GOD DOESN'T LIKE UGLY. He'll
>>> handle the.....coming. He is such a strong Peters DOESN'T have
>> to be
>>> con- vinced of Seals..
>>>
>>> Post Standard Sunday, March 19, 2000 Syracuse, New York
>>> ...to the public. For more 435-2155. 'GOD DON'T LIKE UGLY' An
>>> inspirational gospel.....musi- DON'T LIKE comes to the Landmark 362
>>> S..
>>>
>>
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