Carny Lingo

[Wells Darla L]

Those aren't too bad. They leave out a few things and they overemphasize some
of the older, more obscure material, but on the whole, they are fairly
accurate. One thing they don't emphasize much is the form of pig latin they
speak and also the fact that kizzarney has been considered by most of its
practictioners for at least 20 years that I know of to be a dying language.
Speaking as one who has travelled with several of the shows on Wonder Ella's
list, a person can walk down the midway and people today working the joints
and even some of the rides have no idea what you are saying half the time.
Only the old-timers really remember and use the language and the carnival
business is much like pro football--there aren't that many old timers left--it
is very much a business for the young and strong. When the health breaks down,
it is time to find an easier way of life (like scholarship, for example).
Darla Wells


On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 11:32:40 -0400, Benjamin Zimmer wrote
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Carny Lingo
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 09:00:17 -0400, Grant Barrett
> <gbarrett at WORLDNEWYORK.ORG> wrote:
> >On Jul 11, 2005, at 23:56, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
> >
> >> "Welcome to the Fair" is a site featuring an extensive glossary of
> >> carnival lingo: <http://welcometothefair.com/lingo/>. It was recently
> >> linked on the popular "Boing Boing" blog, so the traffic has
> >> temporarily killed the site.
> [working now...]
>
> >They say they pulled some of it from Joe McKennon's "Circus Lingo"
> >book, but they don't specify which (or both) of the two books they
> >used, "Circus Lingo, Written By a Man Who Was There" or "Circus
> >Lingo: Another Book By the Man Who Was with it." In any case, it
> >jibes pretty well with, without being too identical to, what is in
> >David Maurer's June 1931 article in American Speech (vol.  6, no. 5)
> >"Carnival Cant: A Glossary of Circus and Carnival Slang."
>
> There are at least two other online glossaries that also rely on McKennon:
>
>      http://www.atomicbooks.com/43/shocked/lingo.html
>      http://www.goodmagic.com/carny/
>
> Skimming through the latter site (compiled by Wayne N. Keyser), I
> see one interesting entry-- "bozark", perhaps a blend of "bozo" and "beezark"?
>
>      Bozark: Rarely heard ... a female wrestler or
>      boxer in a fairground athletic match.
>      http://www.goodmagic.com/carny/carny1.htm
>
> This also shows up in a glossary compiled by the Pro Wrestling Torch:
>
>      Bozark (n) A female wrestler; a rarely used old
>      carney [dfn.] term.
>      http://www.pwtorch.com/insiderglossary.shtml
>
> Both the Keyser and Torch glossaries also have "kayfabe", one of the
> many fascinating terms that I've first encountered on Grant's site.
>
>      http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/kayfabe/
>
> --Ben Zimmer


--