cream-puff inhaler; cake-eater (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Charles C Doyle]

The OED gives two (related?) senses of "cake eater," with an example from 1922:  "cake-eater / n. / U.S. / slang / a self-indulgent or effeminate man; a playboy."

--Charlie

________________________________________
> -
>
> Sounds like BS to me.
>
> A "cake-eater" was a "softy" of a sort easily imagined as attending
> afternoon teas, a common university activity of the era. Moreover,
> red-blooded he-men were expected to eat muscle-building steaks and
> fresh-caught trout, not sweet, debilitating cakes and pastries.
>
> As for "creampuff-inhaler," I too would like to see evidence for its
> independent existence.
>
> JL
>
> On Mon, Jun 25, 2012 at 10:01 AM, Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at stanford.edu>
wrote=
> :
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at STANFORD.EDU>
> > Subject:      cream-puff inhaler; cake-eater
> >
> >
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-=
> ------
> >
> > for the context, see this posting:
> >
http://arnoldzwicky.wordpress.com/2012/06/24/mickey-mouse-in-the-old-day
s=
> /
> >
> > commenter "rubberchickencircuit" offers an explanation for two
expression=
> s:
> >
> > In 1920s slang, a cream-puff inhaler was a straight guy who slummed
with
> > gay guys, which Mickey is accusing Kat Nipp of being. (Kat Nipp is a
> > villain whom Mickey hadn=92t met at this point in the story=97he
guessed =
> the
> > gay guy might be him.)
> >
> > In the rewrite, a cake-eater was a guy who flirted with unattractive
wome=
> n
> > so that he could mooch money or food (i. e. cake) off of them. Also
makes
> > sense in context.
> >
> > .....
> >
> > but without a source for this information.  anyone know of a source?
> >
> > arnold
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --=20
> "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
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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

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