The "soul patch"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Sun, 19 Jun 2005 01:07:51 -0400, Douglas Wilson <douglas at NB.NET> wrote:

>> What's bizarre about this tuft of whiskers adorning the underside of
>> the lower lip is that there was no word for it, back in the day. None
>> was needed, because this tuft was never referred to. Some men,
>> including your humble correspondent, from time to time, wore only a
>> soul patch on an otherwise clean-shaven face and still no one felt the
>> need to give it a name.
>
>I believe the noun "imperial" sometimes refers to such a tuft. Apparently
>this was named after Napoleon III, and pictures of him show such a
>localized beard.
>
>I THINK I've heard "soul patch" for 20 years or so, but maybe I'm
>misremembering again. Quick Google only shows the expression back to 1998
>or so.

Nexis takes it back to 1993.  A 1995 Boston Globe article on the soul
patch mentions the "Imperial", but says it was so named because "Little
Anthony of Little Anthony and the Imperials rose to fame wearing one."
The article also mentions the "jazz dab", which I would guess dates back
to Dizzy Gillespie's time.

But wasn't Gillespie's sub-lip facial hair usually just called a "goatee",
however inexactly?  I think Frank Zappa was also said to wear a goatee,
though like Gillespie he never grew the hair down to his chin.


--Ben Zimmer