"Sambo" 1657, antedates OED 1704-

[Baker, John]

        I had supposed that "wore black" referred to clerical attire
(i.e., that Sambo was as moral as a clergyman), but "eat green" was a
complete mystery.

        It's interesting to see how old "Sambo" is.  Is this originally
an African name?


John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Joel S. Berson
Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2008 10:22 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: "Sambo" 1657, antedates OED 1704-

At 9/11/2008 09:36 AM, Baker, John wrote:
>         What does "wore black or eat green" mean?  The only examples I

>see on Google are from this text.

I assume "wore black" refers to black skin, and guess "eat green"
refers to some staple vegetable of the slave diet on Barbados not eaten
by the English.

Joel

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