"Nappy-headed who'es" redux

[Wilson Gray]

Geez, the other doug, that's harsh! "The male of the species"? To what
species do you refer? What is the source of your implied claim that
the 'do rag' is peculiar to the male of the 'do rag-wearing species?
What is the basis of your stated claim "the male of the [un-named]
species is better known for the do-nothing 'do rag'' hair cover"?Why
do you think that the 'do rag is a do-nothing hair cover? What does it
matter whether a hair-cover perform a function?

IAC, the purpose of a (hair-)do rag, whether worn by a man or by a
woman, is to hold a hair-do in place until that hair-do has set.

-Wilson

On 5/15/07, Doug Harris <cats22 at frontiernet.net> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Doug Harris <cats22 at FRONTIERNET.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "Nappy-headed who'es" redux
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Odd, isn't it,that the original remark referred to women and hair, while the
> male of the species is better known for the do-nothing 'do rag' hair cover.
> (the other) doug
>
> Wilson  wrote:
>
>       "Nappy-headed who'es" redux
>
> The Boston Globe's language maven has an interesting discussion of
> European attempts to translate the "nappy-" in "nappy-headed."
> Apparently, no European language has a term that corresponds in
> meaning to the American use of "nappy" as a descriptor of human hair.
> Briefly, Britspeak has "nappy" as "covered with nap" or as a slang
> term for "napkin" as the equivalent of U.S. "diaper." Hence, British
> journalists have decided that "nappy-headed" means something like
> "wearing a diaper-like cloth, such as a bandanna, as a headdress,"
> cf., e.g. the old Aunt-Jemima, fact-based stereotype. Continental
> journalists, following their British peers and their own
> native-language-to-British-English dictionaries, have done the same.
>
> That is to say, translation of the European terms back to U.S.-English
> yields American-BE "handkerchief-head(ed)." This strikes me as close /
> good enough for government work.
>
> FWIW, BE-speakers can use 'nap(s)" to mean "the hair on one's head."
>
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-----
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                                           Rumanian proverb

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