[Ads-l] Random query: "cripple (shot)"

[Jonathan Lighter]

To paraphrase Conan Doyle, "My blushes, Wilson!"

JL

On Sat, Jun 27, 2015 at 6:46 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Random query: "cripple (shot)"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Sat, Jun 27, 2015 at 5:54 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > HDAS has "cripple" from 1974 (heard from one of my college chums), but
> > undifferentiated "crip" (a cinch) from 1923.
> >
>
> Having consulted it after the fact, as is all too often the case, I find
> sufficient material in HDAS to indicate that "crip(ple)" was once rather
> hip as a general term to describe something easily dealt with, especially
> WRT sports, from ca. 1914 to ca. 1974, at least. That I know it
> specifically as a term used in the 'Forties in basketball is, clearly, mere
> happenstance.
>
> An interesting outcome!
>
> Thanks, guys!
>
> Speaking of HDAS and of the 'Forties, there was once, in St. Louis, a
> purveyor of men's clothing, Sol's Men's Store, carrying clothing catered to
> the needs of the coolly-, the casually-, and the correctly-dressed colored
> man. The store brand was designed by the no-doubt-non-existent house,
> Ricky's of Hollywood. This business concern was one of the sponsors of
> "Spider" Burke, the first black DJ on the radio in the greater metropolitan
> area. Hence, he often played the business's singing commercial,
>
> Sol's. Clothing. *Sto-o-ore*!
> Fa-shions styled by *Rickyyy*!
> That's. why. they. are. _*kicky*_!
> S-O-ELLL-S! S-O-ELLL-S!
>
> This is the only time and the only place that I have ever heard this word,
> _kicky_, used by anyone, anywhere, and this is the only time that I have
> ever heard it used with the perceived meaning.
>
> _Kicky_ is in HDAS with the perceived meaning: "delightful, diverting,
> exciting."
>
> "Hell of a job, Jonny!" to coin a paraphrase. :-)
>
> --
> -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
>



-- 
"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