FN + LN

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 6/6/07, Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at babel.ling.upenn.edu> wrote:
> A more influential appearance of the dissociative third-person in '50s
> pop culture was the song "Bo Diddley" by Bo Diddley (June 1955,
> Checker).
>
> Bo Diddley bought his babe a diamond ring,
> If that diamond ring don't shine,
> He gonna take it to a private eye,
> If that private eye can't see
> He'd better not take the ring from me.

And a year before that was "Don't You Know" by Ray Charles (July 1954,
Atlantic):

Say, have you heard baby,
Ray Charles is in town.
Let's mess around till the midnight hour,
See what he's puttin down.

I know there must be earlier blues examples of this, but I can't think
of any off the top of my head. Wilson?


--Ben

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