"Uncle Tomming"

[Garson O'Toole]

Arnold Zwicky wrote on his blog:
> Green’s Dictionary of Slang (2010) has a 1954 cite
> for the verb tom, in the relevant sense, and that dating
> could probably be improved on by a systematic search.

Here are two leads for the verb form "Uncle Tomming". These are
unverified matches in Google Books. The first has a GB date of 1944,
but the GB pointer really leads to seventh printing in 2009. The term
"Uncle Tomming" might be in the 1944 edition, the 1962 edition, or
later. (Maybe Green already checked these leads.)

An American dilemma: the Negro problem and modern democracy - Page 774
books.google.com
Gunnar Myrdal, Sissela Bok - 1944 - 936 pages - Google eBook - Preview
But the common Negroes do feel humiliated and frustrated. And they can
afford to take it out on their leaders by defaming them for their
"kowtowing," "pussy-footing," and "Uncle Tomming"; by calling them
"handkerchief heads" and "hats ...

http://books.google.com/books?id=1S8XwCM-EYcC&q=tomming#v=snippet&


Here is the same text in another book with multiple editions. The
first has a GB date of 1956 and a WorldCat copyright date of 1948, but
there were multiple editions so the date is uncertain. The term "Uncle
Tomming" might be present in some 1948 edition, or a 1964 edition or
later.

The Negro in America
books.google.com
Arnold Marshall Rose, Gunnar Myrdal - 1956 - 324 pages - Snippet view
And they can afford to take it out on their leaders by defaming them
for their "kowtowing," "pussyfooting," and "Uncle Tomming"; by calling
them "handkerchief heads" and "hats in hand," and particularly by
suspecting them of being ...

http://books.google.com/books?id=vTt2AAAAMAAJ&q=Tomming#search_anchor

Worldcat has an entry that says:
The Negro in America
Author:         Arnold Marshall Rose; Gunnar Myrdal
Publisher:      Boston : Beacon Press, 1956 [Copyright 1948]

But another edition was published in 1964:
1. The Negro in America.
With a foreword by Gunnar Myrdal.
Published: New York, Harper & Row [1964]

>
> According to the late-great:
>
> "He [a black policeman, when in the company of a white partner] may
> _tom out_ on yo' ass."
> -Richard Pryor, ca. 1967, in person; 1971, on the album, Hope I Don't
> Crap! (Laff Records)
>
> I find that sign to be more embarrassing than appalling.
>
> <sigh!>
>
> --
> -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