Some notes to "long post":
Flip one's wig: 1946 in song, The House of Blue Lights
Pin: heard in Saint Louis in the mid-'Fifties, but it didn't catch on
Rank: as old as water in BE, with many other negative meanings
Lay dead: used in Saint Louis BE throughout the 'Fifties: "relax";
hypercorrected by chicks to "play dead"
Bread: used in 1950 in Saint Louis by two rogues who mugged me; hence,
the dating is unforgettable
Blood: also used in BE to mean "a black man,"; interpreted as a clip
of "blood brother"
Grease [griz]: BE: same meaning; old as water
Squat: BE: cop a squat
Let's quit it: BE: let's quit the scene, probably inspired by "quit
the scene of an accident"
Jams: BE: any kind of record: 45, 78, Lp, CD
The Man: in Saint Louis: Stan Musial; in BE: any white-man boss or the
CO of a military unit. Nowadays, The Man can also be
what was once known as the "head nigger in charge" (HNIC) or the "head
nigger on duty" (HNOD). In the 'Fifties, a book about a black
President entitled _The Man_ had its title ridiculed because everyone,
even white people, knew that The Man had to be white.
Split: in Saint Louis, also "duff"; in the Army: "get hat" and "hat up."
Stompers: in East Texas: stomps
Wasted: in BE: fucked up in any kind of way; as "waste," vb.: kill,
usually, but also, best in any competition, e.g. chess, cards,
dominoes, bridge, etc. I don't know whether this came from Vietnam or
went there. I think it went, but thass jus' me.
Player: gambler, playboy, pimp
-Wilson
On Feb 4, 2008 1:34 PM, Baker, John <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: "Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
> Subject: Re: Horne
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> This sounds a little like the Mad Comics piece on "Bop Jokes,"
> which did provide several antedatings, see my long post at
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0707C&L=ADS-L&P=R12648
> . I had thought that story might have been drawn by Jack Davis, who
> did so much work for the early Mad, but it seems to have been penciled
> and inked by John Severin.
>
>
> John Baker
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of Jesse Sheidlower
> Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 12:15 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Horne
>
> On Sun, Feb 03, 2008 at 01:21:48AM -0500, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
> >
> > Is Horne's 1963 _Hiptionary_, which these word-lists presumably fed
> > into, known to anyone here? It doesn't show up as cited in the OED, so
>
> > that doesn't bode well for its potential for antedating and such.
> > Still, the "good lookin' out" in the 1961 piece is the earliest I've
> > seen in print (though Wilson recalls it from the '50s).
>
> I have a copy of this displayed rather prominently in my office (the
> cover is cool), so you've looked at it, Ben, perhaps without realizing.
>
> It's mostly illustrated, the glossary portions aren't very extensive.
> There are some short subject-specific glossaries, and then a lot of
> full-page illustrations by Jack Davis (of _MAD_ and other fame) with
> short captions. There's also a lovely portrait of him on the back cover.
>
> Overall, it's not the most useful dictionary for antedating purposes.
>
> Jesse Sheidlower
> OED
>
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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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