Morning wood (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Jonathan Lighter]

I would certainly place the 1944 ex. in brackets because of the combined
facts that it is uniquely early and it may be a simple respelling, by
Legman, of "would he" to enhance and facilitate the rhyme.

Legman's note, moreover, tell us that he collected the verse orally, thus
making the reciter's intention entirely uncertain. However, Legman was in
the habit of glossing even mildly unusual terms but did not gloss this one
- which, if meant in the current sense, would have been pretty unusual in
1953, when the book was published.

I didn't even note this occurrence when I consulted Legman's _The Limerick_
in 1970, because "woody" had no slang significance to me at the time.

JL





On Sat, Nov 17, 2012 at 1:55 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

> HDAS files have a "stiff" from ca 1930, with a 1938 ex. saying that it was
> becoming "obsolete" in favor of "hard-on." (OED:1980)
>
> A "stiffer" appears in 1968 (OED: 1980), with "stiffie" (no OED) pop. by
> Beavis & Butthead in 1992.
>
> JL
>
> On Sat, Nov 17, 2012 at 9:11 AM, Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at nb.net> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>
>> Subject:      Re: Morning wood (UNCLASSIFIED)
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> On 11/17/2012 8:22 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>> > ....
>> >
>> > A "woodie" is slightly earlier. And "stiffie" is a little earlier than
>> > that. In print, anyway.
>> --
>>
>> I recall this "stiffy" from the 1960's. It seems such a natural way to
>> say "something stiff" that I suppose it may have been coined multiply
>> over the decades/centuries. I see it in "Tales of the French Riviera" (I
>> think published about 1968 although the G-books printing may be much
>> later).
>>
>> This "woody" was novel to me around 1990 or 1992 IIRC. I suppose it
>> didn't have wide US currency in the time of the Beach Boys ... let alone
>> in Woody Woodpecker's early days ....
>>
>> When are the early dictionary citations? (Pardon me if I've missed part
>> of the discussion.)
>>
>> --
>> >
>> > I suggest "woodie"  is the origin of both " Woodrow" and "morning wood
>> --
>>
>> Seems highly likely!
>>
>> -- Doug Wilson
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> 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."
>



--
"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