siditty, saditty (1963), siddity (1965)

[Wilson Gray]

On 7/20/05, Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at rci.rutgers.edu> 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: siditty, saditty (1963), siddity (1965)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Wed, 20 Jul 2005 18:57:27 -0400, Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
> >On 7/20/05, Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at rci.rutgers.edu> wrote:
> [snip re: "dic(k)ty", "hinkty"]
> >> Any possible connection here with the derogatory terms "dinky" and
> >> "hunky"? Both appear in the glossary accompanying Rudolph Fisher's
> >> _The Walls of Jericho_ (1928), listed under "boogy" as "synonyms of
> >> Negro". Probably unrelated --
> >
> >> HDAS guesses that "dink(y)" is an alteration of "dinge"/"dingy."
>
> (Just to clarify, HDAS is just talking about the derivation of the racial
> epithet, apparently unrelated to the Scottish-derived senses of "dinky".)
>
> >My mother told me that, when she was young - ca.1914-1932 - the local
> >train that connected Marshall, TX with Longview, TX, was known as "The
> >Dinky," but only because it was literally "dinky," in the sE sense.
> >Its only raison d'etre was to transport blacks living west of Marshall
> >in Longview to their jobs in Marshall's railroad shops, sawmills,
> >piney woods, potteries, etc. and back.
>
> The only "Dinky" I'm familiar with is the one-car shuttle train between
> Princeton Junction (on the Amtrak/NJ Transit line) and Princeton Borough
> near the university. (Needless to say, there's little chance of a racial
> double entendre given the local demographics.)
>
> HDAS has "dinky" meaning "short branch railway" back to 1905 (Dialect
> Notes). Princeton's "Dinky" line dates back to 1865, according to this
> article, though it doesn't say how old the nickname is:
>
> http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2004/04/29/arts/10455.shtml
>
>
> --Ben Zimmer
>

Given that "dinky" as "short-line train" antedates my mother's birth,
I could very well be mistaken in my unwarranted assumption - based
only on the manner in which my mother told me the story - that The
Dinky was called that because it was dinky. Perhaps The Dinky was
called "The Dinky" simply because it *was* a *dinky.*
--
-Wilson Gray