"fellow" = "A black man"

Tue Apr 5 17:11:37 UTC 2011

At 4/4/2011 05:33 PM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:
>Why would "fellow" in these examples be defined as anything more than a
>euphemism for "man" or "person", especially when it is taking modifiers such
>as "Mulatto" or "Negro"?

I think my previous message also answers Dan's question.  In EAN,
there is just one advertisement (over its 130-plus-year time span)
where "fellow" takes the modifier "white".  There are thousands where
it takes the modifier "Negro", "mulatto", or "black".  (Admittedly,
when no modifier/description was present, the presumption was
"white", so "fellow" without a modifier would refer to a white -- but
necessarily of the unesteemed lower classes (see OED, 10 a, b, c): a
white of the middling classes was a "man" or a "woman".)

(For "white fellow", I have -- I think properly -- excluded
quotations where "fellow" is itself a modifier, as in "white fellow
citizens".  These are instances (as the OED says) of "attrib. and
Comb. C1. appositively (quasi-adj.)", specifically "c. (with n. of
relative signification.) Denoting a person or thing that stands in
the designated relation to the same object as another; Also
<http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/69097#eid4596719>fellow-citizen n.".)

A little more research in EAN -- advertisements with:
      British fellow  --   0
      English fellow --   0 (eliminating the 1 false positive)
      Irish fellow     --   1 (eliminating the 2 false positives;
more frequent is "Irishman" -- 1,340 hits)
      yellow fellow  --   I did not attempt to count among the 278
hits.  Some persons are called a "Negro" and then physically
described as a "yellow fellow".  "Brown fellow" also appears (but in
only one ad, 5 appearances) to describe skin color.

Joel

>DanG
>
>On Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 5:13 PM, 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:      "fellow" = "A black man"; also "secesh' noun & adj. 1862; and
> >              "nub" 1728
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > The 1989 OED's earliest citation for "fellow" = "A black man. U.S.
> > Obs." (sense 10.d) is from a 1753 advertisement:  "Run away a Mulatto
> > Fellow named Anthony. Whoever takes up said Fellow shall have Three
> > Pounds Reward."
> >
> > There are many citations in Early American Newspapers, both earlier
> > than 1753 and near the 1860 date of the OED's only other quotation,
> > from Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms.
> >
> > 1)  The earliest (EAN Search finds) is:
> >
> > 1716 -- Boston News-Letter; Date: From Monday November 12, to Monday
> > November 19, 1716; Issue: 657; Page: [2]; Col. 2.
> >
> > A Likely young Negro Fellow, who has been Five Years in the Country,
> > to be Sold ... and to be seen at Mr. Robert Howard Merchant, his
> > House in Clark's Square Boston.
> >
> >
> > 2)  The following, like the OED quotation, uses both "Negro fellow"
> > and "fellow" unqualified:
> >
> > 1728 -- New-England Weekly Journal [Boston]; Date: 12-09-1728; Issue:
> > XC; Page: [4]; Col. 2.
> >
> > Ran-away ... a Negro Fellow named Primus, about 25 years of Age, a
> > tall likely Fellow, speaks good English, & can read well, has a Scar
> > on his right Cheek & a nub on the second joynt of his Thumbs.
> >
> > [Scar on right cheek and nub (OED 2.a. "A small knob or lump"?  Or
> > perhaps more likely 2.b. "A stump, stub, or remnant; something cut
> > off short or imperfectly grown", although this sense is dated from
> > a1834?) on both thumbs -- perhaps signs of mutilation for past
> > transgressions?]
> >
> >
> > 3)  "Mulatto Fellow" appears earliest in:
> >
> > 1733 -- American Weekly Mercury [Philadelphia]; Date: From Thursday,
> > July 5, to Thursday July 12, 1733; Issue: 706; Page: [4].
> >
> > RUN away ... from the Plantation of William Byrd, Esq; at the Falls
> > of James River, in Virginia, a Mulatto Fellow ... Whoever shall
> > return him ether to the said William Byrd, Esq; at Westover aforesaid
> > or to his Overseer, Mr. George Booker, at the Falls of James River,
> > shall have Ten Pounds Reward, and reasonable Charges.
> >
> >
> > 4)  "negro fellow" appears latest in:
> >
> > New-Hampshire Patriot [Concord]; Date: 12-09-1839; Volume: VI; Issue:
> > 271; Page: [2].
> >
> > Horrid Murder.---As one of our citizens, Mr. Fullenwider, on Tuesday,
> > was at his plantation, at the High Shoals of the Catawba, he noticed
> > a negro fellow on a horse, fording the river. ... Loncolnton N.C. Banner.
> >
> > {Our "citizen" is a Mister; our "negro" is a fellow, later in the
> > article referred to only as "Abner".]
> >
> >
> > 5)  "mulatto fellow" appears latest in:
> >
> > Barre [Massachusetts] Gazette; Date: 05-09-1862; Volume: 28; Issue:
> > 42; Page: [1];
> >
> > Let me kiss him for his mother---A secesh anecdote.---As the last of
> > the rebel prisoners were entering the jail on Tuesday, a big mulatto
> > fellow from a neighboring slaughter house, who was making his way
> > through the crowd of spectators, was somewhat jostled in the undertaking.
> >
> > [This fellow is later in the article referred to only as a
> > "darkey".  For those curious, "secesh" (here A.b, "Secession",
> > equidates the OED's earliest quotation.  Later the article refers to
> > "The secesh dame", which is one year later than the OED's earliest
> > quote for "secesh" as an adj.]
> >
> > Joel
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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