[Ads-l] "a red mike" USN/USNA slang

[Jonathan Lighter]

Here's another early ex.:

1911 _Dallas Morning News_ (June 11) 35: According to the "Lucky Bag," the
annual book of the [Annapolis] graduating class,...[he] was a decided "red
Mike" when he first entered, which means he was timid with the fair sex.

So far as I know, this sense of the term was peculiar to the Naval Academy.

JL

JL

On Wed, Aug 21, 2019 at 4:01 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Barry Popik has a pertinent food entry.
>
> https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/red_mike_and_violets
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Entry from March 14, 2019
> Red Mike and Violets (corned beef and cabbage)
> "Red Mike and violets” was hash house slang for a dish of “corned beef
> and cabbage.” Corned beef is red, cabbage is violet and “Mike” is a
> traditional Irish name. Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional
> Irish-American dish that has been frequently served on Thursdays and
> on St. Patrick’s Day.
> [End excerpt]
>
> The first citation Barry lists is dated May 17, 1914.
>
> On Wed, Aug 21, 2019 at 12:48 PM Jonathan Lighter
> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > ca1909 in Mame Warren & Marion Warren _Everybody Works but John Paul
> > Jones_  (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1981) 109: The very few
> [naval]
> > cadets who take no part in the hops and other social events are branded
> > "red [sic] Mikes."
> >
> > 1906 Chauncey M'Govern _Sarjint Larry an' Frinds_  (Manila: Escolta
> Press)
> > [glossary] : RED MIKE - Canned salmon.
> >
> > 1920 [U.S. Artillery] _Hicoxy's Army_  [pvtly. ptd.] 33 [ref. to 1918]:
> > When we weren't picking rusty shell splinters out of our portion of Red
> > Mike or Monkey Meat, we were continuing to enjoy life.
> >
> > I don't see the regimental history _Hicoxy's Army_ in WorldCat, but NYPL
> > had the copy I used.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Wed, Aug 21, 2019 at 10:14 AM Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu>
> wrote:
> >
> > > Not in OED. (HDAS not available for R). Green's Slang online gives 1
> (US
> > > milit.) canned salmon 1906; 2 corned beef 1935.
> > >
> > > Whether related to the above or not, three other uses of the
> collocation
> > > follow.
> > >
> > > a) June 18, 1922 Anaconda [Montana] Standard, p 15? col. 3 "Eight
> Montana
> > > Boys Graduate...Annapolis..."
> > > "Pete," it is learned, now looks on the fair sex with toleration. "As a
> > > 'Red Mike'"--apparently the navy name for a woman-hater--"Pete was
> always a
> > > loud claimant for first honors in the society," says the class Boswell,
> > > "until he reached the Pall [Pali, Bali?] He tumbled there for a little
> > > Hawaiian maiden....he has softened to the fair sex ever since."
> > >
> > > b) July 26, 1936 Times-Picayune p 75 col. 1"Ensigns mustn't Marry"
> > > Her smile was calculated to rock even a Red Mike like Bill.
> > >
> > > c) In a 1940 US Naval Academy yearbook, certain midshipmen are
> describes
> > > as examples of a "red mike," someone apparently not interested in
> women.[1]
> > >
> > > [1] many searchable instances in:
> > > https://archive.org/details/luckybag1940unse
> > >
> > > Stephen Goranson
> > > http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/
> > >
> > >
> > > [https://archive.org/services/img/luckybag1940unse]<
> > > https://archive.org/details/luckybag1940unse>
> > > Lucky Bag : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive<
> > > https://archive.org/details/luckybag1940unse>
> > > EMBED (for wordpress.com hosted blogs and archive.org item
> <description>
> > > tags)
> > > archive.org
> > >
> > >
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