[Ads-l] Humble

[Jonathan Lighter]

IIRC, synonyms are "hummer" and "humbug."

JL

On Sun, May 3, 2015 at 4:19 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Humble
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Short Eyes: A Play
> https://books.google.com/books?isbn=3D080908659X
> Miguel Pi=CB=9Cnero/Pinero - 1975
> "We knew where to find each other and, in the early stage of our existence,
> the fear of turning the corner and
>
> being picked up on a 'humble' (any misdemeanor that could land someone back
> in jail)
>
> or looking backward and finding ugly temptation chasing us was on
> everybody's mind."
>
>
> FWIW, in 1940's-'50's StL, "on a humble" was in competition with "on a
> humbug," both used in a wide variety of contexts having to do with
> phoniness. I've never heard either form used WRT the police, probably
> because I didn't meet anyone who'd ever been arrested till ca. 1965. Even
> then, he got arrested by the Tijuana police for his own safety, he being
> drunk out of his mind, and not by the LAPD on a humble/humbug.
>
> I don't recall its use in "Homicide: Life on the Street," probably because,
> if it was said by a black character, then it wouldn't have gotten my
> attention. OTOH, I clearly recall Belcher telling a suspect to "Cop a
> squat!" I'd never heard that expression used by a white person, before. To
> this very day, IME, its use is still pretty rare, on the tube, at least.
>
> On Sat, May 2, 2015 at 9:28 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
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> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Humble
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> ------
> >
> > In this interview about policing in Baltimore,
> >
> >
> https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/04/29/david-simon-on-baltimore-s-=
> an=3D
> > guish
> >
> > I noticed this use of the word humble:
> >
> > "And the city willingly and legally gave itself over to that, beginning
> > with the drug-free zones and with the misuse of what are known on the
> > street in the previous generation as
> =3DE2=3D80=3D98humbles.=3DE2=3D80=3D=
> 99 A humble
> > is=3D
> >  a cheap,
> > inconsequential arrest that nonetheless gives the guy a night or two in
> > jail before he sees a court commissioner. You can arrest people on =3DE2=
> =3D80=3D
> > =3D9Cfailure
> > to obey,=3DE2=3D80=3D9D it=3DE2=3D80=3D99s a humble. Loitering is a
> humbl=
> e. These
> > thing=3D
> > s were used by
> > police officers going back to the =3DE2=3D80=3D9860s in Baltimore.
> It=3DE=
> 2=3D80=3D99s
> > t=3D
> > he ultimate
> > recourse for a cop who doesn't like somebody who's looking at him the
> wro=
> ng
> > way. And yet, back in the day, there was, I think, more of a code to it."
> >
> > I didn't see it in the archives.
> >
> > I also wonder if different cities/police forces have different terms or
> > slang for an inconsequential arrest.
> >
> > DanG
> >
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> >
>
>
>
> --=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
>
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