Who's diddling and how? (again)

[Wilson Gray]

FWIW, in the version of the song that I've heard, "fuck" is used
instead of "diddle."

"Diddle" in the slang meaning of "fiddle" has been around a long time.

"Diddle" in its sexual use is only a literary term for me. E.g., there
is not the slightest hint of a hidden sexual pun in the name, "Bo
Diddley," or even in the song title, "Diddley Daddy," even though the
song itself is about sex. That aspect of the song is conveyed in the
"daddy" of the title and as this word is used in the song. Other
examples of this use of "daddy" can be found in such 'Fifties R&B
songs as "Daddy, Daddy," "Fat Daddy," "Daddy Rolling Stone," "What Did
Daddy Do?", "Ooh, Rockin' Daddy," etc., etc., ad nauseam.

-Wilson

On Mon, Jul 14, 2008 at 12:55 PM,  <RonButters at aol.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       RonButters at AOL.COM
> Subject:      Who's diddling and how? (again)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> In a message dated 7/14/08 10:57:07 AM, Berson at ATT.NET writes:
>
>
>>=20
>> Perhaps one could substitute "fuck" and get an understandable meaning -- b=
> ut=20
>> it might be different..=A0 I go for both 2.a. and 2.b.=A0 My first assumpt=
> ion to=20
>> hearing "diddle" is masturbate, probably from my callow youth in the 1950s=
> .=A0=20
>> Any mix of genders, in either role; and "he/she diddled" or "diddled=20
>> him/herself" for the solo situation.=A0 In 1 (glazier), I change my assump=
> tion when=20
>> hearing the rest of the sentence.
>>=20
>
> My introduction to DIDDLE in the 1950s was strongly marked by the words of a=
> =20
> bawdy song: "I diddled her once and I diddled her twice and I diddled her on=
> ce=20
> too often: I broke the mainspring in her ass, and now she's in a coffin."=20
> That does not sound like masturbation to me. The other use I was familiar wi=
> th in=20
> the 1950s was close in meaning to FIDGIT or FOOL, as in "He diddled around s=
> o=20
> long that when he finally asked her to the prom she had already agreed to go=
> =20
> with someone else" and "He diddled around with the broken watch and got it=20
> running again."
>
>
> **************
> Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and the=20
> live music scene in your area - Check out TourTracker.com!
>     =20
> (http://www.tourtracker.com?NCID=3Daolmus00050000000112)
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