comic strip words revisited

Dennis R. Preston preston at MSU.EDU
Thu Dec 28 15:32:20 UTC 2006


Earlier than 50s for 'Notary Sojac,' a sign that hung on the wall
(with no relation to the strip goings-on) in the Gasoline Alley
strip, whose hero was one "Smoky Stover."

As for "potrzebie," this web account is linguistically correct (I'm
not sure about the aspirin bottle historical stuff):

"It's a Polish word - means something along the lines of "necessary"
(needed/required/wanted) modulo losses in translation.... Mad
publisher (in both senses) William Gaines encountered the word
"potrzebie" on a the label of a bottle of Polish aspirin.

dInIs (lirttle older'n LH; read the funnies in the early 40s)

>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>Subject:      comic strip words revisited
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Today's Zippy the Pinhead (courtesy of the Washington Post), a strip
>called "Schluburbia" contains this exchange:
>
>Nov shmoz ka pop?
>Notary sojac!
>Nize baby! Banana oil! Jeep!
>Potrzebie! Axolotl! Fershlugginer!
>Everything I know I learned from old comic strips...
>
>(Some of these I recall from my old Mad Magazine subscription in the 50s.)
>
>LH
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

--
It should be the chief aim of a university professor to exhibit
himself in his own true character - that is, as an ignorant man [sic]
thinking, actively utilizing his small share of knowledge. Alfred
North Whitehead

There are many different religions in this world, but if you look at
them carefully, you'll see that they all have one thing in common:
They were invented by a giant, superintelligent slug named Dennis.
Homer Simpson

Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
15-C Morrill Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1036
Phone: (517) 353-4736
Fax: (517) 353-3755
preston at msu.edu

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list