[Ads-l] pinky-swear

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Mark Mandel wrote:
> Considering the rhymes, I have to assume censorship in publication.

Excellent point, Mark. Here is the unexpurgated rhyme recorded in 1872.

Year: 1872
Americanisms: The English of the New World
Author: M. Schele de Vere (Professor of Modern Languages in the
University of Virginia)
Quote Page 87
Publisher: Charles Scribner & Company, New York
Database: Google Books Full View

https://books.google.com/books?id=93UKAAAAIAAJ&q=%22to+hell%22#v=snippet&

[Begin excerpt]
There is, of course, no connection between this word and the familiar
name of the little finger, also derived from the Dutch (pink), as it
appears in the nursery rhyme, which accompanies the interlocking of
the little fingers of the right hand:

"Pinky, pinky, bowbell,
Whoever tells a lie
Will sink down to hell.
And never rise up again."
[End excerpt]

Garson

> On Sat, Oct 6, 2018, 3:34 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Doug Wilson notes that Wikipedia has a pertinent entry.
> >
> > Pinky swear (Pinky promise)
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinky_swear
> >
> > ...
> >
> > Year: 1848
> > Book: Dictionary of Americanisms. A Glossary of Words and Phrases,
> > Usually Regarded as Peculiar to the United States
> > Author: John Russell Bartlett  ...
> > Section: Appendix
> > Quote Page 406
> > Publisher: Bartlett and Welford, New York
> >
> > https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433082311667?urlappend=%3Bseq=440
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > PINKY. (Dutch, pink.) The little finger. A very common term in New
> > York, especially among small children, who, when making a bargain with
> > each other, are accustomed to confirm it by interlocking the little
> > finger of each other's right hands and repeating the following
> > doggerel:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > * Pinky, pinky, bow-bell, Whoever tells a lie, Will sink down to the bad
> > place, And never rise up again.*
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > ...
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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