coony

[Jonathan Lighter]

We got 'coons 'round here, and lemme tell ya, those boogers are sly!  Can
balance on a rail and lift the lid off a plastic trash can, eat what they
want, and leave you to try to clean the mess up in the few seconds before
the garbage men get there.

JL

On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 11:11 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: coony
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Mark, sounds like a cunning raccoon to me -- making the 'possum do
> all the work!  For example, the chorus (spoken by the 'coon?) may be
>
> "Th[r]ow them 'simmons down, possum, thow them 'simmons
> down...sweetest sound I ever heard...thow them' simmons down."
>
> OTOH, just how badly does the 'coon end up?
>
> BTW, "'possum up a 'simmon tree" sounds familiar to me too -- one of
> the '50's folk singers?   Banjo -- Pete Seeger?
>
> Joel
>
> At 2/4/2010 10:42 PM, Mark Mandel wrote:
>
> >OTOH...
> >
> >Possum up a simmon tree
> >Raccoon on the ground.
> >Raccoon says, "Mister Possum,
> >Won't you shake some simmons down?"
> >
> >(CHO:)
> >Unca Reuben got a coon, dang-GON'T (chick-a-chick),
> >dang-GON'T (chick-a-chick), dang-GON'T (chick-a-chick),
> >Unca Reuben got a coon, dang-GON'T (chick-a-chick),
> >And left me here behind.
> >
> >(That is, "dang-gonnit" and a voiceless repeated mouth sound that really
> >doesn't have any vowels.)
> >
> >Here the raccoon doesn't seem more skillful at all, and ends badly.
> >
> >I learned the song off a record (LP? 78?) as a kid in the 50s. I may be
> able
> >to track it down if anyone cares.
> >
> >m a m
> >
> >On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 8:40 PM, George Thompson <george.thompson at nyu.edu>
> >wrote:
> > >
> > > Raccoons are reputed to be very clever.  A folksong as old as 1822
> begins
> > >
> > > Opossum up a Gum Tree
> > > Tinkey none can follow;
> > > Him damn quite mistaken,
> > > Racoon in de hollow.
> > > Opossum him creep softly,
> > > Racoon him lay mum,
> > > Pull him by de long tail,
> > > Down opossum come.
> > > Jinkum, jankum, beaugash,
> > > Twist'em, twin'em, run:
> > > Oh de poor opossum,
> > > Oh de sly racoon
> > >
> > > GAT
> > >
> > > George A. Thompson
> > > Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
> >Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.
> > >
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> >
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