[Ads-l] "Deez Nuts"

[Ben Zimmer]

On Fri, Aug 21, 2015 at 5:05 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>
> A fifty[make that fifteen!]-year-old Iowa boy, presumably white, is
> running for the Presidency under the name, "Deez Nuts."
>
> http://goo.gl/ILYUAp
>
> What catches my attention is that the phrase, "these nuts," in my
> experience, has always meant, "my testes/my testicles/my scrotum."
> Relevant examples are hard to find, needless to say.
[snip]

Probably most relevant in this context is the track “Deeez Nuuuts” on
Dr. Dre's 1992 album "The Chronic," which starts off with Warren G
telling a “deez nuts” joke to a woman on the phone.

On YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzMx8fGc0w0

Lyrics and annotations:
http://genius.com/Dr-dre-deeez-nuuuts-lyrics/

Know Your Meme tracks the most recent online iterations of the joke:

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/deez-nuts

While 15-year-old Brady Olson is evidently a fan of "The Chronic," in
this interview Inspectah Deck says the joke is much older than that
("about 40 years old"):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0M06q9h-A0&t=204

--bgz

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