Hubba-hubba [Was: Aw, naw he di?n'!] (UNCLASSIFIED)

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Thu Nov 18 15:41:26 UTC 2010


QED.

JL

On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 10:34 AM, 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:      Re: Hubba-hubba [Was: Aw, naw he di?n'!] (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
>
> > -
> >
> > On Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 9:03 AM, Jonathan Lighter
> > <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Well-bred young women of the nineteenth century were taught never,
> never,
> > > never, to "talk to strange men on the street."
> > >
> > > Because said strangers, by trying to (in a later idiom) "make a pass,"
> were
> > > betraying their own lack of breeding and a possible disposition toward
> > > sexual predation. Furthermore, given the mores of the time, trying to
> pick
> > > up a strange woman implied that one thought she was "no better than she
> > > should be" (i.e., a slut or lower). Â This was regarded as an extreme
> > insult=
> > > .
> > >
> > > There was an excellent chance than a "masher" was also a dangerous
> drunk or
> > > lunatic. Â Worse, he could be recruiting for a "white-slave ring."
> > >
> > > And as if that weren't enough cause for violent reactions, remember
> that
> > > women were expected to be a little bit hysterical when flustered, and
> that =
> > > a
> > > drunk, a criminal, or a maniac would likely be deterred only by screams
> and
> > > whacks.
> > >
> > > At least that's my understanding of America's formerly endemic masher
> > > situation. We have quite gone beyond it.
> > >
> >
>
> I always pictured Arte Johnson's pursuit of Ruth Buzzi on "Laugh In" as the
> classic masher.
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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