preadolescent "tortures"

[Jonathan Lighter]

That reminds me of the following more barbaric version practiced in Grant Co., Indiana, in the 1890s :

   1942 W. L. McAtee  _Supplement to Rural Dialect of Grant County, Indiana, in the 'Nineties_(pvtly. ptd.) 7: Pecker poker, n., game of poker in which losers had to submit their peckers to blows with “hands” of cards.


  JL


Peter Farruggio <pfarr at CAL.BERKELEY.EDU> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Peter Farruggio

Subject: Re: preadolescent "tortures"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What about the card game called "nucks" (for "knuckles")? I forget
the content of the game, but after each round the loser had to hold
out his fist, knuckle side up, while the winner whacked down on the
knuckles several times with the edge of the deck of cards. The
number of "nucks," or whacks had something to do with the point
differential between winner and loser, and skillful players could
make that deck come down pretty hard and direct the sharp edge right
onto the edge of the knuckles. Some players came away bleeding from
a few losing rounds.

Also, there was "pink belly"

Pete Farruggio



At 10:47 AM 9/30/2006, Geoffrey Nunberg wrote:
>I've been trying to dredge up the names of some of the "tortures" we
>inflicted on one another when I was eight or nine. I recall the
>Indian wrist burn (sometimes called the Chinese wrist burn, if memory
>serves, where you twisted your hands around someone's wrists in
>opposite directions), and an Indian scalp something-or-other. And, of
>course, the noogie and wedgie (but did we call it that then?), though
>those were more on the order of opportunistic maneuvers that didn't
>have the deliberate character of the others. Any help appreciated.
>
>Geoff Nunberg
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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



---------------------------------
How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger’s low  PC-to-Phone call rates.

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