[Ads-l] Mickey D's

Sun Aug 2 04:26:23 UTC 2015

I should have mentioned that Barry Popik has an entry for "Mickey D's"
with citation starting in 1979:

Entry from March 14, 2011
Mickey D’s (McDonald’s nickname)
http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/mickey_ds_mcdonalds_nickname

On Sun, Aug 2, 2015 at 12:18 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> 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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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>>
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