[Ads-l] Mickey D's

Sun Aug 2 04:18:50 UTC 2015

The columnist William Raspberry used "Mickey D's" as a nickname for
McDonald's in November 1976:

[ref] 1976 November 14, Morning Star, An interruption, or a client? by
William Raspberry, Quote Page G7, Column 2, Rockford, Illinois.
(GenealogyBank)[/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
... my 7-year-old daughter, Patricia, came home from McDonald's with a
"customer satisfaction card" on which she was supposed to rate such
things as food, service and cleanliness at the neighborhood "Mickey
D's."
[End excerpt]

In 1975 an album "People's Choice - Boogie Down U.S.A." featured a
track titled "Mickey D's". A review on the iTunes website stated that
the track was an instrumental, so apparently there were no lyrics to
guide an interpretation of the title. This use might be unconnected
and coincidental.

[ref] 1975 September 6, Billboard, First Time Around, (Review of
People's Choice - Boogie Down U.S.A.) Start Page 66, Quote Page 67,
Billboard Publications, Inc. New York. (Now Published by Nielsen
Business Media, Inc.) (Google Books Full View)[/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
Best cuts: "Are You Sure," "Mickey D's," "Boogie Down, U.S.A."
"Nursery Rhymes," "Don't Send Me Away."
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sat, Aug 1, 2015 at 8:01 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Mickey D's
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> HDAS: 1977.
>
> I first heard it about 1983, long before they used it in commercials.
> Within a couple of years it was common on the UTK campus.
>
> JL
>
> On Sat, Aug 1, 2015 at 7:19 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: Mickey D's
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> There's speculation on the web, but no clear answers.  Some, apparently, =
>> see it as having originated as a "black thing"; here are some responses =
>> to that, with no consensus:
>>
>> http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-158179.html
>>
>> I've heard it for ages but I have no idea where it came from and can't =
>> imagine using it myself.  (The nickname, that is; I have used McDonald's =
>> itself on occasion while in transit, I confess--sausage McMuffin for =
>> breakfast while traveling, jalape=C3=B1o burgers, etc.  En route from =
>> point A to points B and C via Mickey D.
>>
>> LH
>>
>> > On Aug 1, 2015, at 6:23 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >=20
>> > Otherwise "McDonald's," has been a minor conundrum for me, to the =
>> extent
>> > that the pronunciation, "Mack Donal's," could be replaced by ''Mickey =
>> D's."
>> > A few TV commercials shouldn't have been sufficient to motivate the =
>> change,
>> > IMO, despite TV's ability to destroy one of my favorite slang =
>> oppositions:
>> >=20
>> > _hamburger_ "black person"
>> >=20
>> > vs.
>> >=20
>> > _cheeseburger_ "white person,"
>> >=20
>> > based upon what was once a clear distinction in trash-food tastes, now
>> > relevant only for us old heads.
>> >=20
>> > Older and/or hipper correspondents are, no doubt, familiar with the =
>> name,
>> > Mickey "Guitar" Baker of the '50's R&B duo, Mickey & Sylvia, who had =
>> the
>> > so-called "cross-over" hit, "Love Is Strange."
>> >=20
>> > The late Mr. Baker' was born "McHouston Baker," in 1925.
>> >=20
>> > Clearly, it's not necessarily that case that "Mc[Name]" will become =
>> "Mac(k)
>> > (Name)" and it's not even a new development.
>> >=20
>> > Youneverknow.
>> >=20
>> > Goodbye, Johnny McBrown [Mack Brown] and Jimmy Mack Cracklin. =
>> [McCracklin]
>> > of my lost youth! <sigh!>
>> >=20
>> > Of course, given that nothing about language is totally =
>> straightforward, I
>> > wouldn't be surprised to discover that Richard and Maurice McDonald,
>> > founders of McDonald's, referred to as "Richard and Maurice Mac(k) =
>> Donald,"
>> > were I to get into a discussion of the founder, in the wild.
>> > --=20
>> > -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
>> >=20
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>>
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