[Ads-l] Antedating of G-string (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Baker, John]

I believe that the "Long Toms" terminology was certainly that of the reporter, not the Navy Yard personnel.

To give a bit more context:  A Sioux delegation visited Washington in May 1875 to discuss a possible sale of the Black Hills.  The famous Sitting Bull seems to have been among the delegates, although his name is not given any special prominence.  In the first week or so of the visit, before the talks began in earnest, the National Republican covered it as a source of humor.  The Sioux wore native dress and were understandably objects of curiosity in Washington.  The discussions ultimately were unsuccessful, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn occurred in the following year.  The purpose of the visit to the Navy Yard undoubtedly was to show off the military prowess of white men; there is more description of the visit in the newspaper, although the additional description in that article gives no further explanation of what is meant by either "G-string" or "Long Toms."  It's not clear how accurate the description is intended to be, since the reporter readily quotes humorous speeches by the delegates that they could not plausibly have uttered.

In addition to the May 21 example of "G-string," already presented, the same newspaper used the term again on May 25, 1875.  According to the newspaper's account, one of the Sioux, named Conquering Bear, got drunk and was yelling at a Pawnee on a tobacco sign; according to the article, the Sioux and the Pawnee were enemies.  In the course of this, the article states:

"once more old Conquering Bear brandished his tomahawk on high; but some one interested in the image gathered up a portion of the sinner's G-string, and yanked him several yards in an opposite direction.  He straightened himself up and remarked to the man who molested him, "You're a goat!" and then walked doggedly away."


John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Mullins, Bill CIV (US)
Sent: Tuesday, April 5, 2016 11:16 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Antedating of G-string (UNCLASSIFIED)

> 
> In the War of 1812 the US Navy had three types of cannons: carronade (short barrel), columbiad (intermediate-length barrel) and "Long
> Tom" (long, cylindrical barrel).  All three types were specified by the weight of the spherical cannonball they could fire: "eighteen-pounder",
> "twenty-four pounder", etc.
> 
> By the Civil War the US Navy had a much wider variety of cannons.  Some were referred to by the weight of the cannonball, as before, and
> some by the diameter of the barrel, e.g. "fifteen-inch".  Now the Navy used only one variety of fifteen-inch gun, and that was called the
> "Dahlgren" (after its designer) or the "soda-water bottle" after its shape, which was NOT cylindrical.  As far as I know, the 15-inch and its
> little brother the 11-inch Dahlgren were never called "long Toms".
> 
> Why were people at the Navy Yard mixing up naval terminology?  

It certainly is possible that it was the reporter who was mixing up naval terminology, not the Navy Yard personnel.  

CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED

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