Clashing slang

[Wilson Gray]

The version that I've heard was from '50's Yale. AFAIK, these songs
were unknown in Saint Louis, as was "diddle" in the relevant sense. A
friend went off to Yale in '54 and came back knowing the version of
the song that, sadly, continues to run through my mind. Further
deponent sayeth not.

-Wilson

On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 3:29 PM,  <ronbutters at aol.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ronbutters at AOL.COM
> Subject:      Re: Clashing slang
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>
> In Iowa in the 1950s he did not bang her, he DIDDLED her.
> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Date:         Mon, 17 May 2010 13:41:14
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject:      [ADS-L] Clashing slang
>
> Back in 1949(?), I read a story by Damon Knight entitled, "Not With a
> Bang." This title struck me as so hip that it introduced me to, and
> made me a fan of, T.S. Eliot, one of Saint Louis's most famous native
> sons. Only a few moments ago, however, did it strike me that this
> title is a pun.
>
> The story is about a jerk, probably the last man on earth, who
> ultimately fails in his efforts to seduce a woman, probably the last
> woman on earth, so as to begin the repopulation of the world with
> humanity.
>
> _Bang_ as a slang term meaning
>
> "engage(ment) in sexual intercourse"
>
> does not exist in the BE of my generation. However, by sheer
> coincidence, the old, (white) college drinking-song with the words,
>
> "He banged her once / He banged her twice / He banged her once too often ..."
>
> was running through my mind. Then... *Flash!* It hit me:
>
> "This is the way the world ends / *Not* with a_bang_"!
> --
> -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
>
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--
-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