Pickle

[Laurence Horn]

At 9:25 AM -0400 8/21/09, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>Garfield is on a dude ranch in this TV cartoon, and somebody says, "Care for
>some burgers?"
>
>Suddenly, in one of those fatal twists that make fact stranger than
>fiction, there's a thundering stampede of maddened cattle.  Garfield thinks,
>"Those burgers are *too rare*!"
>
>Same principle.
>
>JL

So we're talking pickles on the hoof.  FWIW, a couple of my Michigan
informants (with much experience in produce aisles in the Lansing,
suburban Detroit, and Traverse City areas) are not familiar with this
usage, but it strikes me as being not infrequent in Madison, WI, if
memory serves.  (Can't recall if it correlates with positive
"anymore".)

LH

>
>On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 9:12 AM, Steve Kl. <stevekl at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       "Steve Kl." <stevekl at GMAIL.COM>
>>  Subject:      Re: Pickle
>>
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  Thanks!
>>
>>  My mom grew up in Chesaning (Saginaw County). I'm going to see if she has
>>  this.
>>
>>  (Then again, she spoke Czech at home, not English, so she probably just
>>  called them *okurky*.)
>>
>>  - Steve
>>
>>  On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 8:43 AM, David Metevia <djmetevia at chartermi.net
>>  >wrote:
>>
>>  > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  > -----------------------
>>  > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  > Poster:       David Metevia <djmetevia at CHARTERMI.NET>
>>  > Subject:      Re: Pickle
>>  >
>>  >
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  >
>>  > I live in the Tri City area (Midland, Bay City, Saginaw).  There are
>>  > many cucumber farms in northern Bay County, although the local
>>  > pickling plants are long gone.
>>  >
>>  > On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 8:21 AM, Steve Kl.<stevekl at gmail.com> wrote:
>>  > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  > -----------------------
>>  > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  > > Poster:       "Steve Kl." <stevekl at GMAIL.COM>
>>  > > Subject:      Re: Pickle
>>  > >
>>  >
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  > >
>>  > > Out of curiosity, what part of Michigan are you from (I assume Michigan
>>  > > because of 'chartermi')?
>>  > > I grew up southwest of Flint, my grandparents were farmers. My father
>>  had
>>  > a
>>  > > huge garden and we grew tons of cukes, but I never heard any of them
>>  call
>>  > > small cucumbers pickles. Are you up near the Thumb? For some reason I
>>  > have a
>>  > > vague recollection that were large cucumber crops up that way, and I'm
>>  > > wondering if this is a term that people who deal with cucumbers in
>>  large
>>  > > quantities used.
>>  > >
>>  > > On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 8:03 AM, David Metevia <
>>  djmetevia at chartermi.net
>>  > >wrote:
>>  > >
>>  > >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  > >> -----------------------
>>  > >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  > >> Poster:       David Metevia <djmetevia at CHARTERMI.NET>
>>  > >> Subject:      Pickle
>>  > >>
>>  > >>
>>  >
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  > >>
>>  > >> I don't have access to the OED at the moment, but looked at m-w.com
>>  > >> for a definition of pickle.  In my part of the world, folks regularly
>>  > >> refer to small size cucumbers as pickles.  A gardener grows these
>>  > >> pickles; the farmer's market sells these pickles.  They are referring
>>  > >> to the raw vegetable. Presumably this is an extension of the word as
>>  > >> the intent is that the cucumbers will be further processed into
>>  > >> pickles.
>>  > >>
>>  > >> Yet, the MW definition only gets as close to that meaning as the final
>>  > >> product:
>>  > >>
>>  > >> 3 : an article of food that has been preserved in brine or in vinegar;
>  > > >> specifically : a cucumber that has been so preserved
>>  > >>
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>
>--
>"There You Go Again...Using Reason on the Planet of the Duck-Billed
>Platypus"
>
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