Grind House

[Wilson Gray]

In the '50's and '60's, I knew "grind house" as a term for a burlesque
house, which is self-explanatory. How does Tarantino explain it?

-Wilson

On 3/30/07, Bapopik at aol.com <Bapopik at aol.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Bapopik at AOL.COM
> Subject:      Grind House
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Grind House" was partly filmed in Austin, by acclaimed directors Quentin =20
> Tarantino and Roberto Rodriguez. Tarantino frequently explains the term.
> ...
> I don't think it has any connection to "grinder" (barker), as OED hints. =20
> It's probably literally a grind house--a film mill. Earlier citations welcom=
> e. =20
> Is VARIETY searchable?
> ...
> ...
> ...
> 14 June 1927, Helena (MT) Independent, pg. 7, col. 3:
> The shutdown at the Rialto will leave only a grind house where second run =20
> films are shown to cater to the movie fans of Butte.
> ...
> ...
> 4 March 1928, Syracue (NY) Herald, pg. 2, col. 6:
> It is intended to operate a 24-hour grind house program to run about an =20
> hour, made up mostly of shorts.
> ...
> ...
> ...
> (OED)  =20
> =20
> grind house, n.
>
> slang (orig. U.S.). Now chiefly hist.
> [Prob. < _GRIND_=20
> (http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/crossref?query_type=3Dfulltext&queryword=3Dgr=
> indhouse&first=3D1&max_to_show=3D10&search_spec=3Dfulltext&sort_type=3Dalph
> a&search_id=3DCfAi-Lmnkxx-19826&control_no=3D20003051&result_place=3D1&xrefw=
> ord=3Dgrin
> d&ps=3Dn.&homonym_no=3D1)  n.1 (cf. sense 2 at that entry) + _HOUSE_=20
> (http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/crossref?query_type=3Dfulltext&queryword=3Dgr=
> indhouse&first=3D1&ma
> x_to_show=3D10&search_spec=3Dfulltext&sort_type=3Dalpha&search_id=3DCfAi-Lmn=
> kxx-19826&
> control_no=3D20003051&result_place=3D1&xrefword=3Dhouse&ps=3Dn.&homonym_no=
> =3D1)   n.1=20
> J.  E. LIGHTER Hist.  Dict. Amer. Slang (1994 ) I. 970/1 suggests a further=20
> connection with  the relatively rare U.S. slang grinder =E2=80=98a barker wh=
> o works=20
> continuously  in front of a single show=E2=80=99, earliest attested in 1926.=
> ]  =20
> A cinema showing a variety of films  in continuous succession, usually with=20
> low admission fees and freq.  concentrating on material regarded as of poor=20
> quality or little merit. Also: a  burlesque theatre; a strip club. =20
> 1925  Los Angeles Times  10 Oct. 2/3 An agreement was later made by the=20
> Motion-Picture  Theater Owners' Association of Southern California, it was s=
> aid,=20
> where payment  will be respectively $3 higher in suburban houses, $5 higher=20=
> in=20
> downtown =E2=80=98grind=E2=80=99  houses and $8 in de luxe theaters. 1928  W=
> ashington Post 1=20
> Apr.  III. 1/1 Many people thought Keith's Theater would align itself with t=
> he =20
> so-called =E2=80=98grind=E2=80=99 houses running twelve hours a day continuo=
> usly. 1939  L.=20
> GODY  N.Y. City Guide 175 On  Forty-second Street west of Broadway..famous=20
> theaters have been converted into  movie =E2=80=98grind=E2=80=99 houses devo=
> ted to continuous=20
> double feature programs or burlesque  shows. 1966  Playboy Dec. 244/1 By ear=
> ly=20
> 1958  all New York was a Bardot festival; her pictures, duly dubbed and=20
> scrubbed, were  playing not only in the art houses but in exploitation grind=
>  houses=20
> and in  respectable neighborhood theaters as well. 1993  Rolling Stone 10 Ju=
> ne=20
> 78/1 Nick  hangs with the street kids, especially Molly.., a child prostitut=
> e=20
> destined for  the grind house where her mother strips for droolers.  2000 =20
> Guardian 12 May (Friday Rev. section) 23/6, I remember solitary teenage trek=
> s to a=20
> rat-infested ghetto grindhouse to catch some rotten  dubbed martial arts=20
> flick.=20
>
>
>
>
> ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com=
> .
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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