"Commissary berries" in Paris Hilton story

[Jonathan Lighter]

At least "*commissary dingleberry" makes some sense.

  No Google hits for that or "commissary berry."

  However, according to _Foxe's Book of Martyrs_, one Commissary Berry was a hypocritical 16th C. preacher and persecutor of Catholics who was struck dead for rejoicing at the death of Mary Tudor in 1558.

  http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/johnfoxe/main/12_1576_1929.jsp


  JL

"Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Douglas G. Wilson"
Subject: Re: "Commissary berries" in Paris Hilton story
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>Not that I know what I'm talking about, but this sounds like some
>kind of error to me.
>
> "Berries" could be rare survival of the slang sense "money." If
> so, "commissary berries" would mean money to buy things at a
> commissary. That at least is easier to explain than is the
> purported phrase "have commissarry berries" defined as "have
> hangers-on seeking loans."

I think "berries" = "money" and "the berries" = "something good" are
probably unlikely connections in the milieu involved.

I suggest that "berries" probably means essentially "hanging ones"
(cf. "hangers-on"), specifically "dingleberries" (there are
synonyms/variants such as "dilberries", "fartleberries", says the book).

MAYBE there was even some expurgation in the published piece: maybe
the actual usage (for all I know) is more often "commissary
dingleberry" (nice rhythm) or so.

-- Doug Wilson


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