"Jimbo"; was: Yumbo

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

I thought "Jimbo" derives from "Jim boy."
 
Gerald Cohen
 
________________________________

From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Douglas G. Wilson
Sent: Sun 8/5/2007 10:31 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Yumbo

>Looks like a sort of blend: "jumbo" + "yummie"; i.e., hugely
>delicious---facilitated by phonetic similarity ("-um-" in each of
>the two words).

....

>   Apparently a phonological development of "Yummo!"

Or maybe just a natural nonsense augmentation, maybe the same as the
one which causes men named Jim to be called "Jimbo".

-- Doug Wilson

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