retronym: JUG

[Wilson Gray]

The Jesuit high school that I went to in the early 'Fifties -
1950-1954 - also had the "jug" terminology for being kept after school
as punishment. However, the jug room had no other name and no one ever
suggested that "jug" was an acronym or otherwise discussed the origin
of the term, which, to me and, IMO, to every other student, seemed
obvious. As Jon notes: "The true origin of this sort of 'jug' appears
to lie in the much older sense of 'lockup.'"

"Sliwa / sliva" is the Slavic word for "plum,' which is the source of
the liqueur, slivovits, whose name once popular as a funny foreign
word in radio days.

-Wilson

On 9/23/07, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      retronym: JUG
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> When I was in high school, bad behavior brought "detention" in the "detention room." A few minutes ago on Fox News, Curtis Sliwa explained that, in his Jesuit high school in the 1960s, detention was known as "jug," which stood for "Judgment Under God."  He seemed to imply that these words were even displayed on a sign at the entrance to what was officially called "penance hall."
>
>   Ellis Henican, who attended a different Jesuit school, agreed that his school employed the "JUG" terminology as well.
>
>   HDAS offers one ex. of "jug"  (n., 1.c) as after-school detention from an NYU student in 1970. He (or she - I don't remember) did not allude to any acronymic interpretation.
>
>   The true origin of this sort of "jug" appears to lie in the much older sense of "lockup."
>
>
>   JL
>
>
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