let it drag

[Garson O'Toole]

I have found conflicting information about the meaning of "Let the
rough side drag". The text below is from a talk given at a meeting of
the Texas Bar Association, and it gives an "explanation" from one
class of speakers.

Google Books unverified data.
Year: 1956
Title: Texas Bar journal, Volume 19
Authors: State Bar of Texas, Texas Bar Association
Publisher: State Bar of Texas

Let the Rough Side Drag by Robert J. Farley

... I will tell you how that came about, this
expression here, Let the rough side drag.
Back in Mississippi among a certain ele-
ment of our population there is a custom
of, instead of greeting people properly
when you meet up in the morning, of in-
quiring: "What are you going to say?"
  Or: "What do you say?"
  I never knew there was anything to say
but "Good morning."

Defenses weakened

And that bothered me, because it kind
of weakened my defenses.
 My father was a small town lawyer, and
he took criminal cases. And in those days
the lawyers would let Negro clients work
out their fees for the next term of court.
And there was a fellow named Jim Jack-
son.
  I was walking down the street with Jim
one morning and we passed another fellow.
And he said: "What are you going to say,
Jim?"
  And quick as a flash Jim replied: "Let
the rough side drag."
  He didn't know what it meant, and I
don't know what it meant. I will guarantee
you it worked. And it worked on Mr. Pool.
It put him on the defensive. I think he
had the telegraph company confirm it,
whether or not that was really what I
said.

Courageous action

So there is something kind of courage-
ous about that. (Applause.) Anyhow, you
put people in their place.
  Well, I started working on that. That
gave me a subject. ...

(I am guessing that Mr. Pool is one of the organizers of the meeting,
and the author Robert J. Farley sent a telegraph to Pool saying that
the topic of his talk was going to be "Let the Rough Side Drag".)


On Sun, May 8, 2011 at 7:25 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: let it drag
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> So..."let the bottom of the race car drag!" means what then?  Sounds like a
> prescription for failure.
>
> JL
>
> On Sun, May 8, 2011 at 7:13 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: let it drag
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Probably the bottom of the race car itself.
>> DanG
>>
>> On Sat, May 7, 2011 at 12:09 PM, Jonathan Lighter
>> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>  > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> > Subject:      let it drag
>> >
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > From a TV commercial for NASCAR:
>> >
>> > "No holds barred - and let the rough side drag!!"
>> >
>> > Jesse Winchester released his LP _Let the Rough Side Drag_ in 1976, as if
>> > that explains anything.
>> >
>> > What rough side?
>> >
>> > JL
>> > --
>> > "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
>> >
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> 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."
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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