perfect synonyms--chamber pot

[Jonathan Lighter]

"Slapjack" usu. means "pancake," though it's a word I haven't heard in
decades. I think I learned it from B-westerns.

JL
On Sat, Jul 11, 2009 at 4:54 PM, Barbara Need <bhneed at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Barbara Need <bhneed at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: perfect synonyms--chamber pot
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> This conversation debuted with the proposal that flapjack and slapjack
> might be (nearly_ perfect synonyms. The discussion has focussed on
> slapjack, which I had never heard. And none of the meanings mentioned
> for it are even close to the only meaning I have for flapjack--
> pancake. Does flapjack have another meaning I am not familiar with? Or
> can slapjack mean pancake?
>
> Barbara
>
> Barbara Need
> Chicago
>
> On 11 Jul 2009, at 9:18 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
> > My guess is that "slop jar" came first.  Frankly, I don't know where
> > "slapjack" is used in this sense.  Surely it isn't common.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Sat, Jul 11, 2009 at 6:44 AM, Margaret Lee <mlee303 at yahoo.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> Since 'slapjack' can mean chamber pot, I remember such a container
> >> being
> >> ca=
> >> lled a 'slop jar' in my childhood. Can this be a variation of
> >> 'slapjack'?
> >> =A0
> >> --Margaret Lee
> >>
> >> ________________________________________
> >>
> >> --- On Fri, 7/10/09, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >>
>  >> I can now reveal two comparably synonymous English words. They are
> >> so mundane, however, that no one will be impressed.
> >>
> >> The envelope please:
> >>
> >> "Flapjack" and "slapjack."
> >>
> >> Objection: whereas "gorse" and "furze" have the virtue of always
> >> meaning
> >> each other, "slapjack" can also mean "chamberpot."=A0 At least
> >> that's what
> >> =
> >> the
> >> late Fred Cassidy told me many years ago.
> >>
> >> Gorse/furze, flapjack/slapjack.=A0 I guess it's...a toss-up.
> >>
> >> JL
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org