More old GI slang

[Wilson Gray]

I'm not surprised, Jon. It used to be the case that I felt that the
mere fact that I could
vouch for the existence of some bit of slang should have made it
dictionary-worthy.
Then, I went the other way, not offering anything unless I could come
up with at least
an attempt at some kind of documentation.

Now, I'm trying for a sort of middle ground. If I know some
undocumented local slang or dialect feature - like "stomps" in East
Texas for "shoes," which are / were called "kicks"  elsewhere - I'll
just offer it up for what it's worth: a laugh, if nothing else.
Another instance is that the "standard," so to speak (that old song,
"Land of a Thousand Dances," did have a basis in fact) fast dance in
St. Louis was called the "bop," whereas, in Los Angeles, the
corresponding dance was called the "seven-step."

Can't hurt. Might help. You never know. :-)

-Wilson

On 4/3/06, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: More old GI slang
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> No literary evidence of his phrase has surfaced.
>
>   JL
>
> "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET> wrote:
>   ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: "Douglas G. Wilson"
> Subject: Re: More old GI slang
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> >"You live in shit!"
> >
> >Back in the late '50's and the early '60's, this phrase, with
> >sentential stress on "shit," was used by white GI's to
> >congratulate a person who'd unexpectedly had something
> >especially good happen to him, such as being assigned
> >to T[emporary]D[ut]Y, which both lowered one's work load and
> >simultaneously raised one's pay.
> >
> >IAC, I've never been able to figure out the semantic reanalysis
> >necessary to use something really bad to describle something
> >really good. Of course, I realize that "bad" can mean "good."
>
> Maybe this is a version of "happy as a pig in shit"/"like pigs in shit"/etc.?
>
> -- Doug Wilson
>
>
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