Ofaginzy redux

[Wilson Gray]

Speaking only for myself, of course, I have neither heard nor even
heard of this word till now. I took a look at the cite in HDAS and I
have nothing to add to it or to subtract from it. I'm a bit surprised
by seeing "ofay" described as having "primarily literary
distribution." OTOH, I must admit that I first learned the word by
reading it, ca.1947, and only several years after that, ca.1953, did
the use of this term become hip in our group, after having been
introduced by a college-grad buddy. Hm. That hardly constitutes a
refutation of the claim in HDAS. Oh, well.

-Wilson

On 3/27/07, Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at nb.net> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>
> Subject:      Ofaginzy redux
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Ofaginzy" is attested (sparsely, I think) as an elaborate form of "ofay" =
> "white [person]".
>
> Does anybody know the pronunciation of "ofaginzy", or whether there
> are/were other spellings?
>
> Is there any known early citation? [HDAS has 1946.]
>
> -- Doug Wilson
>
>
> --
> No virus found in this outgoing message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.18/733 - Release Date: 3/25/2007 11:07 AM
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
                                                      -Sam'l Clemens

Dope wil get you through times of no money better than money will get
you through times of no dope.
-----
                                         -Free-Wheeling Franklin

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