Slim jim

[Wilson Gray]

My word, Joel! Why wouldn't we believe you? You''re just joking, when
you say that, right?

-Wilson

On 5/18/07, Joel Shaver <vole at netw.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Joel Shaver <vole at NETW.COM>
> Subject:      Slim jim
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The recent discussion of 'pry' and 'prise' on Lynne Murphy's (addictive)
> blog ...
>
> (http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2007/05/strikes-and-prying-in-grauniad.html)
>
> ... has made me wonder about the 'slim jim,' a common lock-picking tool
> for car doors (at least in my usage).  OED has 'slim jim' in the sense
> 'something long and thin or narrow' from 1916, but doesn't mention the
> lock-picking tool (or the beef stick, but I can forgive that), which I
> would think should be a fairly established term.  I wonder if the
> development of 'slim jim' has been affected by 'Jimmy' (v.) meaning to
> 'force open a door' (attested from 1893 in OED).
>
> Here's the Wikipedia on slim jim (lock pick), as *conclusive proof* if
> you don't believe me.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slim_Jim_(lock_pick)
>
> Joel Shaver
> University of Glasgow
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
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-----
                                              -Sam'l Clemens
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The tongue has no bones, yet it breaks bones.

                                           Rumanian proverb

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