Turd Blossoms in Texas?

Mon Aug 13 19:29:10 UTC 2007

HDAS, as one would expect, has already applied the historical method to "fart-blossom," tracing it as far back as 1938.  "Turd-blossom," OTOH, is known to me solely from its use by and around the President of the United States.

  That either of these expressions has a meaning directly related to actual _crepitus ventris_ or any related phenomenon is new information to me, though entirely believable.

  While on the subject, I thought Fred might find occasion to make use of the following expression of First Lieutenant George S. Patton, Jr., in 1916, written in Mexico  "It is commonly reported that the scouts attached to the Punitive Expedition are such a tough lot that their turds have gills and breathe and live till evening" (The Poems of General George S. Patton, Jr. Carmine A. Prioli, ed. (Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 1991).

  JL

Dennis Preston <preston at MSU.EDU> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Dennis Preston

Subject: Re: Turd Blossoms in Texas?
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Ditto Louisville area 40's, 50's, 60's.
"Fartblossom" was a very common term of
endearment for kids, especially but not uniquely
after an actual performance.

dInIs

>---------------------- Information from the mail
>header -----------------------
>Sender: American Dialect Society
>Poster: Darla Wells
>Subject: Re: Turd Blossoms in Texas?
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>My stepmother is from Atlanta, Texas, near Texarkana and she called all of us
>kids "fartblossoms" growing up. That would have been in the late 60's or so,
>and she still uses the term.
>Darla
>
>With magic, you can turn a frog into a prince. With science, you can turn a
>frog into a Ph.D and you still have the frog you
>started with. (Terry Pratchett)
>
>---------- Original Message -----------
>From: Bapopik at AOL.COM
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Sent: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 02:02:44 EDT
>Subject: Turd Blossoms in Texas?
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the
>>mail header -----------------------
>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>> Poster: Bapopik at AOL.COM
>> Subject: Turd Blossoms in Texas?
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> If anyone (HDAS?) has turd blossoms, please send them over here. Is
>> this a Texas term? ... ... ...
>> _http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/turd_blossom/_
>> (http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/turd_blossom/) ...
>>
>> Entry from August 13, 2007
>> Turd Blossom
>>
>> "Turd Blossom’Äù was a nickname for George W. Bush’Äôs adviser, Karl
>> Rove. The term was popularized in 2002.
>>
>> A ’Äúturd blossom’Äù is supposedly a Texas term for a flower that
>> grows from manure, but historical citations for this alleged
>> regional definition are lacking.
>>
>> _Wikipedia: Turd Blossom_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turd_Blossom)
>> Turd Blossom, according to partisans of Karl Rove and George W.
>> Bush, is a Texan term for a flower which grows from a pile of cow
>> dung. The term has gained notoriety in the United States, as
>> reportedly this is one of President George W. Bush’Äôs terms of
>> endearment for his chief political advisor, Karl Rove. Bush is also
>> reported to call Rove by the nickname ’ÄùBoy Genius.’Äú
>>
>> Few, if any, native Texans would recognize this definition of
>> ’Äòturd blossom.’Äô ’ÄòTurd blossom’Äô was used in 1960s Texas high
>> school slang to describe the spreading smell of a fart, or the
>> spreading stain of a loose bowel movement. Neither Rove nor George
>> W. Bush attended high school in Texas, and they may have been
>> unfamiliar with the original use of the word. ’ÄòFart blossom’Äô was
>> a common variant.
>>
>> _Google Groups: alt.usage.english_
>>
>>
>(http://groups.google.com/group/alt.usage.english/browse_thread/thread/45d3bd0fb799e27/d34b040d6e48705a?lnk=st&q=&rnum=5
>> 0&hl=en#d34b040d6e48705a)
>> Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
>> From: Ben Zimmer
>> Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2001 15:31:40 -0500
>> Local: Thurs, Jun 28 2001 4:31 pm
>> Subject: Re: Rove’Äôs nickname?
>>
>> Turd Blossom.
>>
>> Time Magazine had no qualms printing it:
>> _http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,107219,00.html_
>>
>>
>(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php?URL=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1072
>19,00.html)
>>
>> An explanation is given in ’ÄúFirst Son: George W. Bush and the Bush
>> Family Dynasty’Äù, by Bill Minutaglio:
>>
>> ’ÄúEverybody must have a nickname, and the spin doctor has a
>> quality nickname, Turd Blossom ’Äî as in wherever-he-goes-something-
>> is-sure-to-pop-up.’Äù
>>
>> _Google Books_
>>
>> (http://books.google.com/books?id=ChXd7GeqlToC&pg=RA1-
>>
>PA138&ots=zywGyJpcLW&dq="turd+blossom"&ei=tO6_RoWCFofI6wKtzY3qAg&ie=ISO-8859-1&sig=Fnj
>BXRNDa-D14GvFIy3YJCpeISk) Boy Genius: Karl Rove, the Brains Behind the
>Remarkable Political Triumph of George W. Bush by Carl M. Canoon, Lou Debose
>and Jan Reid Public Affairs 2003 Pg. 138: Somewhere along the line, after
>they moved to Washington together, Bush began alternating Rove’Äôs ’ÄúBoy
>Genius’Äù nickname with another, less flattering moniker: ’ÄúTurd Blossom.’Äù
>It seems fitting enough, given Rove’Äôs modest background (a turd blossom is
>a Texas expression for a flower that grows out of a cowpie), but Rove shrugs
>in some embarrassment when asked how Bush came up with this.
>>
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--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
Morrill Hall 15-C
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48864 USA

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