square from Delaware (1939)

[Douglas G. Wilson]

> Oh, I was just floating the idea that "square" in the relevant sense
> could have originated as a shortened form of "square from Delaware",
> which in turn might have started out as not much more than a funny
> rhyme along the lines of the others in the 1939 Dan Burley cite (Lane
> from Spokane, killer from Manila, Home from Rome). Then when it was
> established as a pejorative term for an unhip outgrouper, the "from
> Delaware" part could be dropped. Just a theory...
-

And a reasonable one IMHO.

In "home from Rome", is "home" an abbreviation for "home[town]-boy" or
some such thing? If so, can "square" be short for some analogous
expression (e.g., [*]"square-boy") denoting a person from one's home
"square" (nowadays we would say "[city] block" maybe)? Just woolgathering.

-- Doug Wilson

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