MTA (More Trouble Ahead) nicknames

[Page Stephens]

For your information if you ask most of the people I know about the MTA
their first reference is probably to The MTA Song which was a major hit for
The Kingston Trio many years ago.

Almost none of them have ever heard of its antecedents which were The Ship
Which Never Returned and even more famous The Wreck of the Old 97 both of
which shared the same tune.

The reference in the MTA song is Boston for those of you who have never
heard the song.

The Wreck of the Old 97 also provides us with an interesting way of tracing
the antecedents of different versions of a song via a mistake made by the
singer of the most popular version.

The original recorded version by Henry Whitter was correct in terms of
earlier printed versions when he sang "he lost his airbrakes" but Vernon
Dalhart who covered it apparently misheard the words since he recorded it as
"he lost his average" and so if you hear someone singing the latter phrase
you know it comes from Dalhart's cover which sold in the millions and not
from Whitter's version.

Page Stephens

----- Original Message -----
From: "Benjamin Zimmer" <bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2005 11:48 PM
Subject: Re: MTA (More Trouble Ahead) nicknames


> ---------------------- 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: MTA (More Trouble Ahead) nicknames
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Wed, 23 Mar 2005 16:38:54 EST, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
>
>>I just entered this on my "Big Apple" page. "More Trouble Ahead" is in
>>today's New York Post. Does anyone know another other "MTA" (Metropolitan
>>Transit Authority) nicknames?
>>...
>>23 March 2005, New York <i>Post</i>, pg. 32 editorial:
>><i>M</i>ore <i>T</i>rouble <i>A</i>head?
>
> Barry notes a few others on his "Big Apple" page
> <http://barrypopik.com/article/648/mta-metrocard>:
>
> -----
> (Google Groups)
> Odd NYCTA quote from NY Times Tuesday October 6, 1998
> ... I have seen the trend spread over into supervision now. Kenny NYCTA
> Motorman MTA....
> Moving Trash Around ....Moving Thugs Around ....More Trouble Ahead
> nyc.transit - Oct 30 1998, 2:42 am by KRH1955 - 9 messages - 9 authors
> -----
>
> From a 1996 thread on the newsgroup misc.transport.urban-transit (the
> first three actually refer to the MTA of Los Angeles):
>
> Making Transit Awful
> More Trouble Awaits
> Many Tardy Arrivals
> My! Timetable! Amazed!
>
> http://groups-beta.google.com/group/misc.transport.urban-transit/browse_frm/thread/188a5597ff32eb99/8d5a240f58ada03d
>
> And along the lines of "Moing Thugs Around", the same thread mentions two
> (racist) nicknames playing on other public transit initialisms:
>
> MARTA "Metro Atlanta Regional Transit Authority" ->
>      "Moving Africans Rapidly Through Atlanta"
>
> NFT "Niagara Frontier Transit" ->
>    "Nigger Freight Train"
>
> Those two nicknames also appear in Nicholas Howe's 1989 article "Rewriting
> initialisms: folk derivations and linguistic riddles" _Journal of American
> Folklore_ 102(404):171-182.  On JSTOR:
> http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-8715%28198904%2F06%29102%3A404%3C171%3ARIFDAL%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Z
>
> Surprisingly, Howe doesn't have any reinterpretations of "MTA".  But he
> does have a good selection of automotive nicknames:
>
> -----
> BMW
> Big Money Wasted
> Break My Windows
> Buick Motor Works
> Wanted Mercedes-Benz (backwards)
>
> Chevy
> Can Hear Every Valve Yell
>
> Dodge
> Dear Old Dad Goes Everywhere
>
> Fiat
> Fix It Again Tony
> Found In A Toilet
>
> Ford
> Fix Or Replace Daily
> Fucking Old Rebuilt Dodge
> Found On Road Dead
> Found on Russian Dump
> First On Race Day
>
> GM
> General Mistakes
>
> GMC
> General Mass of Crap
> Garage Man's Companion
> Great Made Car
> Good Mountain Climber
>
> IHC (International Harvester Co.)
> In Hock Constantly
>
> MB (Mercedes-Benz)
> Mucho Bucks
> Mechanic's Bonanza
>
> MOPAR
> My Only Problems Are Repairs
> My Old Pig Ain't Running
>
> Olds
> Old Like Dad's Studebaker
>
> Plymouth
> Please Leave Your Money On The Hood
>
> Pontiac
> Poor Old Niggers Think It's A Cadillac
>
> REO
> Runs Empty Only
> -----
>
>
> --Ben Zimmer