"Shoobie" etymology

Wilson Gray hwgray at GMAIL.COM
Wed Jun 7 02:05:27 UTC 2006


FWIW, in BE slang, "Shooby," or however you want to spell it, is yet
another of a plethora of terms that mean "black male." <har! har!> In
the BE case, though, the derivation  is from _Ooh-Shoo-Be-Doo-Bee_, an
old be-bop tune by Dizzy Gillespie. And, of course, "benny" as an old
slang term for overcoat that was re-popularized during the be-bop era,

-Wilson

On 6/6/06, Bapopik at aol.com <Bapopik at aol.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Bapopik at AOL.COM
> Subject:      "Shoobie" etymology
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> DARE has "benny" from 1977 and "shoobie" from 1968.
> ...
> HDAS?
> ...
> I did some checking and this 1958 cite seems helpful.
> ...
> ...
> ...
> THE NEW JERSEY SHORE
> by John T. Cunningham
> New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press
> 1958
> ...
> Pg. 101:
> Fast trains to Atlantic City, along with a one-dollar round-trip fare,
> created the "day tripper," and the "Dollar Excursion" unquestionably (Pg.
> 102--ed.) gave the city its wide popularity. Throughout the 1890's and up until  World
> War I working men had freedom to play only on Sundays. That day, week in  and
> week out, found swaying Atlantic City-bound coaches teeming with
> Philadelphia families, laden with their "shoe box lunches."
> ...
> Naturally not all of Atlantic City viewed the "Shoe Box Lunch Set" with
> favor. Keepers of the swank hotels figured anyone who couldn't come for at least
> a week should stay home and get rested for his job.
> ...
> ...
> ...
> (PROQUEST)
> ...
> _Season  of Busy Living Opens at Shore Resorts; Season of Traffic and Busy
> Living Opens  at Shore Resorts _
> (http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=7&did=256327372&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=114962
> 7026&clientId=65882)
> By SUZANNE DALEY. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.: May 30,
>  1983. p. 1 (2 pages)
> ...
> Pg. 22:
> Mr. Chomowicz said that the full-time residents called tourists, both
> humorously and derisively, "shoobees," referring to their habit of wearing shoes  on
> the beach.
> ...
> "Every Labor Day," he said, "people hang banners out of their windows which
> say, 'Shoobee Go home.'"
> ...
> ...
> ...
> _For  Early Tourists, a Tepid Welcome at Jersey Resort; A Resort Welcomes
> Tourists,  Barely _
> (http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=14&did=120612226&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1149626982&clientId
> =65882)
> By NICK RAVO Special to The New York  Times. New York Times (1857-Current
> file). New  York, N.Y.: Feb 16, 1987. p. 29 (2 pages)
> First page:
> "They get offended when we say, 'Shoobie go home.'"
> (...)
> Shoobie is a name Long Beach Island residents attach to tourists, usually
> those from Philadelphia and the New York Metropolitan region. The name is
> derived, local residents said, from day-trippers of decades ago who visited the
> island and brought their lunch in shoe boxes.
> ...
> ...
> ...
> _Facing  the Tourist Season With Mixed Feelings_
> (http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=44&did=114755224&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309
> &VName=HNP&TS=1149627495&clientId=65882)
> By MARIA  EFTIMIADES. New York Times (1857-Current file).  New York, N.Y.:
> May 6, 1990. p. NJ2 (1 page)
> ...
> That's when the "shoobes" emerge. "They're the ones who come down and
> disturb us," said Ms. Frank, who lives in nearby Margate.
> ...
> The term "shoobe," Cape May people say, derives from Philadelphians who  come
> to Jersey Shore towns with everything they need--sunglasses, swimsuit,
> suntan lotion--fitting into a shoebox.
>
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