Antedating of spiggoty/spigotty (1900)

[Jonathan Lighter]

I need to start reading these posts in reverse order. Good going, Doug.

JL
"Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Douglas G. Wilson"
Subject: Re: Antedating of spiggoty/spigotty (1900)
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I presume that the original expression was "speak the [English]" pronounced
by a Spanish-speaker /spik[a]di/ or so. Of course this can be rendered as a
pseudo-English word ostensibly related to "spigot". It can also be rendered
other ways. Here is "Spickety" (cf. "spickety-span"):

(from N'archive)

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_Daily Iowa State Press_, 24 Aug. 1899: p. 7(?):

[supposedly from the _Atlanta Constitution_: "Lieutenant Bobbie: A True
Story of a Thrilling Incident of the Campaign in Porto Rico", by Milt Saul]

<<"Do you think," said Sentry Laird to the alcalde after the floral
offering had been made and accepted -- "do you think for a minnit that
Leftenant Bobbie done the Hobson act for the likes of you? 'Twas for the
battery M of the Seventh that worruk was did last night, I can tell you
those, and you're not the first Spickety that has been here to-day to have
a bookkay for him doin' it.">>

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Note the eye-dialect, and the pronunciation of "lieutenant". I don't know
what "Hobson" refers to: apparently Lt. Bobbie had acted the hero in
fighting a fire. Also in the piece is "Now will you be gone, you Spinnach?"
spoken to the alcalde by Laird: I suppose probably "Spinnach" was "Spanish"
expressed as "spinach", an alternative to "Spickety".

-- Doug Wilson


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