The African Dodger (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Jonathan Lighter]

A down-on-his-luck Spencer Tracy winds up briefly as an African Dodger in
 _Dante's Inferno_ (1935: inspired by the great classic of Western
civilization).

He's billed only as "The Ball Dodger."  Yet he's in Al Jolson blackface.

It seemed to me that tennis balls rather than the potentially lethal
baseballs were involved, but I couldn't be sure.

JL

On Mon, Aug 13, 2012 at 12:15 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <
Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject:      Re: The African Dodger (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
>
> May 2, 1882. _San Francisco Bulletin_ p 4 col
> [adv for St. Andrew's Society Excursion and Picnic]
> "Arrangements have been made for the erection of ELEVATED SEATS from
> which all
> can view the Games with comfort.  The celebrated ETHIOPIAN BALL DODGER
> will be
> on hand, and will be pleased to meet his assistants."
>
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of
> > Jonathan Lighter
> > Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2012 12:57 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: The African Dodger (UNCLASSIFIED)
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> ----------------------
> > -
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: The African Dodger (UNCLASSIFIED)
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ------
> > -
> >
> > "African dodger" is not in OED.
> >
> > Here's one found serendipitously - and used metaphorically.
> >
> > 1956 S. L. A. Marshall _Pork Chop Hill_ (N.Y.: Morrow) 147: The
> Chinese
> > grenadiers played African dodger, revealing head and shoulders just
> long
> > enough to heave their potato mashers.
> >
> >  The earliest from NewspArch:
> >
> > 1889 _Boston Globe_ (Aug. 11) 19: But the African dodger still lives.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 7:00 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <
> > Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> > > Subject:      Re: The African Dodger (UNCLASSIFIED)
> > >
> > >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
> > ---
> > >
> > > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > > Caveats: NONE
> > >
> > >
> > > I'm confused -- I thought that the purpose was to hit the African
> Dodger
> > > in the head with a baseball, but the referenced book talks about
> hitting
> > > a plunger and making the Bobo drop into the water, like a modern
> dunking
> > > booth (although it also references hitting him in the head -- like I
> > > said, it's confusing.)
> > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> > > Behalf Of
> > > > Wilson Gray
> > > > Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 1:34 AM
> > > > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > > > Subject: The African Dodger
> > > >
> > > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > ----------------------
> > > > -
> > > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > > Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> > > > Subject:      The African Dodger
> > > >
> > >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > ------
> > > > -
> > > >
> > > > On p.15 of this GB book, the African Dodger is called, "The Bobo."
> > > >
> > > > http://goo.gl/odqsw
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > -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
> > > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > > Caveats: NONE
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > 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."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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."

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