Stoop in DARE

[Wilson Gray]

Well, Wilson, a retired librarian, might loosely be considered one such.

-Wilson

On 09/25/07, Nadia Pazolis-Gabriel <nadpaz3 at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Nadia Pazolis-Gabriel <nadpaz3 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Stoop in DARE
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Dear all,
>
> That's it, I'm staying! There's no way I am unsubscribing from this gold
> mine of a listserv now. Thank you to all those who responded to my query,
> who gave me other sources of information, who commented and researched the
> word.
>
> Reference is not exactly where I'm going (I'm on the Technical Services
> side); however, I envy reference librarians for having you, and I'll
> certainly recommend your expertise to my colleagues.
>
> Actually, if I may venture another question...
> I'd be curious to know if there are other librarians in love with languages
> (and foreign languages, English being one to me) on this listserv.
> Please write me directly if you think this is irrelevant to the list.
>
> Thanks again!
>
> Nadia
>
>
> On 9/25/07, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Stoop in DARE
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I'm pretty sure that a "small, pink, rubber ball" called a "spaldeen"
> > / "Spalding" or by any other name was unknown in Saint Louis. White
> > families with children were moving into the old neighborhood even
> > after my family moved out. So, I don't think that it was a racial
> > thing, since, strictly speaking, we never lived in a 'hood or in the
> > ghetto, as these terms are understood, nowadays, and there were always
> > white kids around to play with. At one time, we even shared the kind
> > of micro-apartment building known in Saint Louis as a "two-family
> > flat" with a white family. I'm abstracting away from living conditions
> > in East Texas, of course, where segregation was as absolute as in
> > Mississippi, except at the neighborhood Catholic church. Which is
> > probably why I still count myself as a member of The One, True Faith,
> > though I haven't attended of my own accord any kind of church function
> > whatever since the '50's.
> >
> > -Wilson
> >
> > On 9/25/07, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > > Subject:      Re: Stoop in DARE
> > >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > At 9/25/2007 10:53 AM, you wrote:
> > > >My stars alive! I'd forgotten about that stoop ball! I used to play it
> > > >myself! The game plays okay against a wooden stoop, too, at least if
> > > >you use a tennis ball.
> > >
> > > And better if you use a Spalding (known in the inner city as a
> > > "spaldeen", but gentrified by the Wantagh school superintendent
> > below)?  See
> > > http://www.wantaghschools.org/superintendent/the%20superintendency.htm
> > > for the connection (and growing up in Brooklyn):
> > >
> > > The "stoop" (front steps) served the dual purpose of "receiving the
> > > only "toy" I had for many years - a Spalding ball. Stoop ball and
> > > stick ball were America's (inner city) games, and no electronic
> > > device or life-size hobby kit has ever come close to matching the joy
> > > I received from that small, pink, rubber ball always within my grasp.
> > >
> > > Joel
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
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> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > 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
> >
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> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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

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