Coney (Re: sea cunny)

[Laurence Horn]

Ah, but do we think of those as roasted /k^ni/ (as in "honey" and "money"), or roasted /koni/ (as in "phon(e)y" and "pepperoni")? I rest my case.   As for the "sea cunny/conny", I love the OED's etymology of it as an apparent "perversion" of Pers. sukka:ni.  I reckon a perversion is an even more mortal etymological sin than a mere corruption is, although lexicographers should feel free to set me straight.

Oh, on a different topic, although some might consider them to constitute an existential threat to our God-given English lexicon if not an outright perversion, there's a piece on emojis in yesterday's Times Style section, citing Ben:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/fashion/emoji-have-won-the-battle-of-words.html

LH


On Jul 28, 2014, at 8:56 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:

> I suspect Tolkien's use of "coney" when Frodo and Sam are in Ithilien ensured its survival, particularly for fantasy use.
> 
> Searching on things like
> 
> "roasted coney" -"coney Island"
> "baked coney" -"coney island"
> 
> yields a modern few hits on GB--I searched only for books from 2005 on.
> 
> Benjamin Barrett
> Formerly of Seattle, WA
> 
> Learn Ainu! https://sites.google.com/site/aynuitak1/home
> 
> On Jul 28, 2014, at 5:44 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> wrote:
> 
>> Much less ribald than it would appear.  So while "coney" /'k^ni/ =3D =
>> 'rabbit' was taboo-avoided into non-existence when it wasn't tortured =
>> beyond recognition in "Coney Island" (and Fr. "connil" suffered an =
>> identical fate for essentially the same reason), "sea cunny" has =
>> somehow, as you note, thrived (or perhaps thriven) as an every-day =
>> expression.  Preserved by the saltiness, no doubt. =20
>> 
>> LH
>> 
>> On Jul 28, 2014, at 5:35 PM, George Thompson wrote:
>> 
>>> Here's an antedating by nearly a decade of a word we all use just =
>> about
>>> every day.  And a couple of post-datings thrown in.
>>> =20
>>> OED:  sea-conny, n.  Forms:  Also seacunny, sea-cunny, seconny, =
>> seacony,
>>> sea-connie, secunnie.
>>> =20
>>> A steersman or quartermaster in a ship manned by lascars.
>>> 1801   *Asiatic Ann. Reg. 1800: Chron.* 21/1   A Frenchman..concerted =
>> a
>>> plan with a Spaniard and four of the seacunnies, for murdering the =
>> officers
>>> and seizing the ship.
>>> 1801   in A. Duncan *Marin. Chron.* (1804) II. 355   Leaving Captain
>>> Porter, who, with six Manilla seconnies, remained on board the wreck.
>>> =20
>>> =20
>>> =20
>>>   Bombay Gazette, Feb. 2.  Mallawans.
>>> =20
>>>   ***  [pirates seize a ship]  Happy it would have been, had the
>>> business rested here; in the course of their plundering, some of them
>>> attempted to strip one of the Seacunnys, who not relishing such a
>>> procedure, made resistance and knocked one of them down. . . .
>>> =20
>>>   Daily Advertiser (New York City), September 7, 1793, p. 2, col. 3
>>> =20
>>> =20
>>> =20
>>>   =46rom a Calcutta Paper of December 15.  [report of a mutiny]  =
>> [The
>>> captain] was then between the wheel and the cuddy door, when the sea =
>> cunny,
>>> who suffered on Saturday, instantly plunged a crease into his heart. . =
>> . --
>>> he had wounded one of the sea cunnies, but being pent under the poop, =
>> he
>>> had not sufficient room to wield his sword in his defence.
>>> =20
>>>   Morning Chronicle (New York City), June 11, 1806, p. 2, col. 5
>>> =20
>>> =20
>>> =20
>>>   Pulo-Penang, April 3, 1819.
>>> =20
>>>   Extract of a letter, dated Coast of Pedier, 15th March, 1819.
>>> =20
>>>   "I am now enabled to give you a circumstantial account of the =
>> Massacre
>>> of Capt. Onetta, his Wife, and the Officers of the *Wilhelmina*: it =
>> appears
>>> that the subject was proposed by a Seacunny of the name of Jem, to the
>>> Syrang, who, together with the Crew, immediately entered into his =
>> views o
>>> hearing there was money on board. . . .
>>> =20
>>>   Carolina Sentinel (Newbern, S. C.), October 9, 1819, p. 1, col. 3
>>> =20
>>> =20
>>> GAT
>>> =20
>>> =20
>>> --=20
>>> George A. Thompson
>>> Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
>>> Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much since then.
>>> =20
> 
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