Rat-tail(ed) [comb and] broom

Thu May 6 14:03:32 UTC 2010

HDAS has _ignorant stick_ (in the related sense of "a shovel or a hoe") only
back to 1957. Not surprising for non-jazz BE slang, which is poorly
represented in print before the '70s. "Ignorance stick" is a variant.

The similar _idiot stick_ (again, a shovel or similar implement) is recorded
from 1930 in WE.

GB reveals a recording by Red Allen, "Get the Mop (The Ignorant Stick)" from
late 1945 or very early '46.

JL

On Thu, May 6, 2010 at 1:20 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Rat-tail(ed) [comb and] broom
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> That's the right comb. It's the full-sized pushbroom that's the
> ignorant stick. It's the handier ooblect that sppears to have been
> inspired by the pushbroom that's called a rat-tailed broom. I have to
> remember to ask my wife the name of a peculiak kind of brush that she
> has, but has never used. WAG: it's something used to brush crumbs off
> a tablecloth. I was going to use it to brush spilled kitty crackers
> off the kitchen floor till she broke nasty on me.
>
> -Wilson
>
> On Wed, May 5, 2010 at 10:51 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: Rat-tail(ed) [comb and] broom
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > At 5/4/2010 09:36 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
> >>My mother also used a type of comb that she called a "rat-tailed"
> >>comb. She was also an East-Texan: born in Longview, reared in
> >>Marshall.
> >
> > Did the comb look like and was it used like the
> > one in the video one can see on the web?  (Google "rat-tail comb".)
> >
> > I associate "rat-tail comb" with one having a
> > long handle (as contrasted with one having
> > bristles up to each end), but not being much into
> > feminine hair styling I was not familiar with the
> > ratty tail (narrow diameter, too narrow for a
> > facile handle) and the use videoed.
> >
> > I have something similar to Wilson's description
> > of his "ignorance stick", only it is of course
> > not pushed, that has soft "bristles" and is
> > useful for cleaning up fine particles.  I too,
> > like his wife, call it a "dust broom" (NY City),
> > not a "rat-tail broom".  There's a picture of
> > something similar to mine at
> >
> http://www.bobbyberkhome.com/show_product/25413/?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=datafeed&utm_term=25413
> >
> > Joel
> >
> >
> >>-Wilson
> >>
> >>On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 8:43 PM, Darla Wells <lethe9 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> > ---------------------- Information from the
> >> mail header -----------------------
> >> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> > Poster:       Darla Wells <lethe9 at GMAIL.COM>
> >> > Subject:      Re: Rat-tail(ed) broom
> >> >
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> >
> >> > never heard that one, but we use _rat-tailed comb_ a whole lot
> >> > Darla
> >> >
> >> > 2010/5/4 Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com>
> >> >
> >> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >> >> -----------------------
> >> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> >> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> >> >> Subject:      Rat-tail(ed) broom
> >> >>
> >> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> >> > ------
> >> >>
> >> >> This is probably more a DARE thing than an HDAS type of thing.
> >> >>
> >> >> There are only three hits that Google considers to be relevant.
> >> >>
> >> >> IAC, in Saint Louis, _rat-tailed broom_, like "whisk broom," is the
> >> >> only name used for this handy object. Unfortunately, it's not likely
> >> >> to come up as the subject of a random conversation. So, I have no
> idea
> >> >> whether this handy form of broom is known / used elsewhere, perhaps
> >> >> under a different name.
> >> >>
> >> >> Because it comes in so handy (we have cats), I *keeps* me a
> rat-tailed
> >> >> broom. I've asked my wife about her familiarity with this tool and
> she
> >> >> *thinks* that it *may* be called a "dust broom" in in NE PA.
> >> >>
> >> >> IAC, it looks roughly like an "ignorant stick" / "ignorance stick" -
> >> >> pushbroom - with the handle removed and a third or so of the bristles
> >> >> removed from the head, with the empty space carved, so to speak, into
> >> >> a handle.
> >> >>
> >> >> BTW, I once read somewhere - Mario Pei, yet again? - that "ignorant
> >> >> stick" originally referred to the spade as a tool of ditch-diggers.
> >> >> But, IME, it was:
> >> >>
> >> >> "... pushing the ignorant stick ..."
> >> >>
> >> >> "What's that?"
> >> >>
> >> >> "Doing porter-work."
> >> >>
> >> >> -Wilson
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> -Wilson
> >> >> =96=96=96
> >> >> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"=96=96a strange
> complaint t=
> >> > o
> >> >> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> >> >> =96Mark Twain
> >> >>
> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > --=20
> >> > If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible
> >> > warning. -Catherine Aird
> >> >
> >> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>--
> >>-Wilson
> >>
> >>All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"a strange complaint to
> >>come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> >>Mark Twain
> >>
> >>------------------------------------------------------------
> >>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> -Wilson
> –––
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> –Mark Twain
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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