[Ads-l] Antedating two meanings for jarhead--mule, and Army member (UNCLASSIFIED)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Below is an instance in 1901 of "jar-heads" employed as a term of
disparagement directed at humans (not mules). The Oxford English
Dictionary has the following sense:

jarhead, n.   1. b. A foolish or stupid person.

The first OED citation is dated 1942. The instance below might fit
this sense although there is some ambiguity.

[ref] 1901 February 21, The Marietta Journal, County News by
Correspondents: Willeys, Quote Page 7, Column 2, Marietta, Georgia.
(GenealogyBank)[/ref]

[Begin excerpt – double-check for errors]
A few days ago some very ill-behaved boys passed by the residence of
Isaac Reed, took a stick and turned a beegum over and injured the comb
very much. Such people have no respect for themselves nor their
neighbors, nor anybody else, and ought to be dealt with as the law
directs, and will be if dog shooting and turning over beegums isn't
stopped. You may call us jar-heads, dagoes or anything else, but
please pass by quietly and you will be respected and treated like
gentlemen.
[End excerpt]

Garson


On Mon, Aug 8, 2016 at 12:36 PM, Mullins, Bill CIV (US)
<william.d.mullins18.civ at mail.mil> wrote:
> CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED
>
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of sclements at NEO.RR.COM
>> Sent: Sunday, August 07, 2016 3:54 PM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: Antedating two meanings for jarhead--mule, and Army member
>>
>> ----
>>
>> OED has Mule for the animal(1916)
>>
>> Raleigh (NC) _Progressive Farmer and Cotton Plant._ 29 Nov. 1906 5/2
>> "The common jar-head, hard tail mule...."
>
> Slightly earlier:
>
> _Fayetteville [NC] Weekly Observer_ 1 Mar 1906 p 2 col 6 [Newspapers.com]
> "I see Mr. Sidney Cain is at home plowing his jar-head."
>
>
> Another slang term for mule -- rubber tail -- not in OED:
>
> _Alton [IA] Democrat_ 2 July 1926 p 6 col 4 [Newspapers.com]
> "This state furnished Uncle Sam a greater number of mules than any other and is known as the largest "jar-head" or "rubber-tail" market in the world."
>
>
> Another slang term for mule -- Missouri nightingale -- not in OED:
>
> _Salina [KS] Daily Union_ 18 Mar 1908 p 3 col 3 [Newspapers.com]
> "It is to say that at a point in Washington recently an army mule, a favorite with the post, died, when the flag was immediately lowered to half-mast, certainly a mark of unusual distinction, even for so useful and engaging an adjunct to society as a Missouri nightingale."
>
>
> _Bismarck [ND] Tribune_ 30 Aug 1912 p 4 col 2 [Newspapers.com]
> "At Leeds a Missouri nightingale nearly chewed the arm off a livery employe."
>
> CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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