shingle-eating grin, crap-eatin' grin, canary-eatin' grin, sugar-eating grin, crud-eating grin

[Laurence Horn]

On Sep 26, 2011, at 7:51 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> "Shit-eating grin" is another term that WWII novelists place in the early
> '40s.
>
> I'd suggest that the unique "shingle-eating grin" makes absolutely no sense
> except as a transparent euphemism.
>

Isn't there more to it?  "Shit on shingles" is the standard appellation for creamed chipped beef on toast in WWII lingo (eventually trickling down to university dining hall lingo), so this might be not paradigmatic replacement (i.e. simple euphemism) but syntagmatic association:  If you find shit, can shingles be far behind (or below)? If not, then a eating shingles would typically amount to eating shit (at least metaphorically).

LH

> I have also encountered what I take to be the original concept, to "grin
> like a shit-eating dog."
>
> JL
>
> On Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 7:20 AM, Garson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      shingle-eating grin, crap-eatin' grin, canary-eatin' grin,
>>             sugar-eating grin, crud-eating grin
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> The OED has the phrase "shit eating grin" with two different senses.
>> The earliest cite is in 1956.
>> 1956 J. Moffett in New World Writing No. 10. 16 You've got the most
>> shit-eating grin I ever saw.
>>
>> For entertainment and perhaps edification I looked for evidence before
>> 1956 by allowing matches for milder expletives, euphemisms, and other
>> words. The matches are in GB and are mostly unverified.
>>
>> In 1949 (not verified) the phrase "shingle-eating grin" is used.
>> Perhaps the speaker thought the "shingle" would be more appetizing
>> than the "shit" when considering "shit on a shingle". Or maybe it is
>> unrelated.
>>
>> 1949, The American Legion magazine, Volumes 46-47, American Legion
>> (Not verified on paper; Probe with 1949 looks ok; GB Volume number matches
>> year)
>> http://books.google.com/books?id=N7jvAAAAMAAJ&q=shingle#search_anchor
>> <Begin excerpt>
>> ... a butch haircut, a shy, shingle-eating grin, and a firm conviction
>> that no real bullets will be used. The Kid wanders about telling the
>> others how different Army life is from life on the farm in Kansas. ...
>> <End excerpt>
>>
>> In 1950 (not verified) the phrase "crap-eatin' grin" was published. So
>> this instance might be useful as a bracketed citation.
>>
>> 1950, The Brother by Feike Feikema, Frederick Feikema Manfred
>> (Not verified on paper; Worldcat and library catalog entries agree
>> with year of publication)
>> <Begin excerpt>
>> The two heads looked into the shack again. Thurs asked, "This nest
>> yours?" "By God, it talks," the shorter gray-whiskered bum said. "And
>> it's givin' with the crap-eatin' grin," the taller brown-whiskered bum
>> said.
>> <End excerpt>
>>
>> In 1954 (not verified) the fine phrase "canary-eatin' grin" was printed.
>>
>> 1954, A Thousand for the Cariboo by Bill Gulick
>> (Not verified on paper; Worldcat and library catalog entries agree
>> with year of publication)
>> http://books.google.com/books?id=4W03AQAAIAAJ&q=canary#search_anchor
>> <Begin excerpt>
>> "Damn it, Wynn, get that canary-eatin' grin off your face and talk
>> plain!" "Well," Wynn said, turning the glass round and round between
>> his hands, "it could be Gould would be lucky enough to drive them
>> steers across country he's never ...
>> <End excerpt>
>>
>> In 1954 (not verified) "sugar-eating grin" is used in a military
>> magazine. Sugar is a common euphemism for shit.
>>
>> 1954, The Leatherneck: Volume 37
>> (Date probe for 1954 looks ok; Volume 37 was 1954 according to a scan
>> of December 1954 issue; Issue with quote is unknown)
>>
>> http://books.google.com/books?id=wazvAAAAMAAJ&q=%22sugar-eating%22#search_anchor
>> <Begin excerpt>
>> After a jumper hits the deck and deflates his chute, he can uncork an
>> emotional reaction. Usually, it's a sugar-eating grin. The smiles were
>> broader following the second jump. On the third day, the operation hit
>> a snag.
>> <End excerpt>
>>
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