More old GI slang

[hpst@earthlink.net]

Wilson,

I just deal with my experience in different areas of the world since I look
on this list as a way of adding references not checking them out.

Out of curiosity :-) is the seven step in any way related to the "Mexican
two step" which all of us who have eaten too many jalapenos at a sitting or
drunk polluted water are well familiar with.

It is a fast dance but only in one direction which might make it unique
although it also involves bumping people aside so it might be a precursor
to some forms of contemporary dance.

By the way I learned this phrase in southern Illinois in the 1950s.

Page Stephens

> [Original Message]
> From: Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Date: 4/3/2006 9:05:58 AM
> Subject: Re: More old GI slang
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
-----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: More old GI slang
>
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>
> 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
>

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