a side note on twink

[Jonathan Lighter]

_Twinkie Town_: Minneapolis-St.Paul

1992 _Sports Close-Up_  (July 17) (CNN): And the Red Sox are at Twinkie
Town.

Numerous RGs.

JL

On Sun, Feb 14, 2010 at 8:03 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: a side note on twink
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 5:29 PM -0500 2/14/10, Garson O'Toole wrote:
> >Thanks for the overview of the many meanings of twink.
> >
> >Twinks was also the nickname of a baseball team called the Hollywood
> >Stars. Hence, the term twinks was used to describe a group of
> >primarily young and athletic men from the late 1930s to the 1950s. The
> >term was widely known because the Los Angeles Times ran many headlines
> >with the words twink and twinks in the time period. Here is a sampling
> >of the headlines about the minor league team that can be found in the
> >Google News Archive:
>
> Not relevant to "twink" perhaps, but possibly to the origin of the
> mocking label of "Twinkies" that at least for a while would be used
> as a replacement for the official nickname, Twins, in reference to
> the Minnesota baseball franchise in the American League when they
> were going through a bad stretch. Unless that was simply for the
> sugary snacks, as I always assumed.
>
> LH
>
> >
> >Cherubs Trim Twinks, 5-2 - Aug 11, 1938
> >Leading Beavers Test Twinks at Gilmore - Apr 4, 1939
> >Twinks Hold Stiff Workout - Mar 2, 1940
> >Twink Twirlers Set for Drill - Feb 22, 1941
> >Seals Defeat Twinks Twice - Sep 8, 1942
> >Twinks and Suds Resume Tonight - Apr 13, 1945
> >Six Still Holdouts as Twink Squad Turns Out - Feb 25, 1947
> >Old School Star Sold on Twinks' Baseball Shorts - May 3, 1950
> >Twinks Discard 'Short' Uniforms; It's a Long, Long Trail From Pirates
> >- Jul 1, 1955
> >Twink Infielders Hurt in Collision - Apr 12, 1957
> >
> >1957 was the last year of the Hollywood Stars baseball team. Two of
> >these headlines refer to the experimental replacement of "the
> >traditional bloused baseball trousers and stirrup socks with shorts
> >and long socks in 1950."
> >
> >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Stars
> >
> >I tried to connect the Hollywood Stars twinks to the twink definition
> >witnessed in 1962. But I was unable to find any solid evidence
> >bridging the two different meanings in the archives that I searched.
> >Perhaps someone else will succeed.
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------
> >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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