Tube Steak WAS Re: pink taco (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Jonathan Lighter]

HDAS has sexual "tube steak" in print from 1973.

And yes, it does appear in _The Short-Timers_, which is based on Gustav
Hasford's experiences as a Marine in Vietnam in 1968.

JL

On Fri, Dec 3, 2010 at 2:43 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <
Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject:      Tube Steak  WAS     Re: pink taco (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> >
> > Barry Popik on "tube steak":
> >   http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/tube_steak/
> >
> > > I suppose it was probably originally a jocular coinage, modeled on
> "cube
> > > steak".
> > >
> > > I don't recall hearing/seeing it applied to a sex organ, but then I
> > > haven't heard it much recently at all.
> > >
> > > No doubt it lends itself to a sex-organ reference, just like "hot
> dog",
> > > "wiener", etc., etc.
> >
>
> Barry's citations all refer to "tube steak" = frankfurter, and he goes
> back to 1939.
>
> "Tube Steak" = penis is in the 1987 film "Full Metal Jacket", and Google
> Books implies that it is in the 1979 novel _The Short Timers_ by Gustav
> Hasford, based on his Viet Nam experiences.
>
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
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