[Ads-l] Dixie (1858)

Wed Jun 24 13:01:47 UTC 2020

"Dixie" was the name of a character in an older (1850) minstrel skit. So that's a very plausible bit of speculation. But that character was Black, not a slave owner.

And "Dixey's Land" also exists as the name of a NYC children's game from at least the 1840s, so unless the two are independent coinages (Emmett was living in NYC at the time of composition and may have been familiar with the game), that would militate against the speculation.

-----Original Message-----
From: "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2020 7:55am
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Dixie (1858)

Am wondering lazily - with apologies to the millions who are already tired
of knowing the answer - whether the key to the origin of "Dixie" might be
sought in the (perhaps lost) contents of Emmett's show itself.

The title of his song is, of course, "Dixie's Land." I'm wondering whether
an old assertion that it came from the name of a kind-hearted (sic)
slaveholder might refer - not to a real person - but to a character in a
(or the) stage skit.

In the song, "Dixie" is metonymy or shorthand for "Dixie's Land." So I
wouldn't expect any antedatings of "Dixie."

JL

JL

On Wed, Jun 24, 2020 at 7:30 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> It's happened to me. In cases like this, I always remind myself, "If it
> feels too good to be true, it almost certainly is."
>
> JL
>
> On Tue, Jun 23, 2020 at 10:01 PM <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
>
>> Damn! You're right. I never rely on the metadata date, but I guess I
>> forgot to double-check it this time.
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of
>> Jonathan Lighter
>> Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2020 4:38 PM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Dixie (1858)
>>
>> Pretty impressive, Dave. But I had a terrible feeling that the ad's use
>> of "Dixie" sounded as though everybody knew what it meant in 1858.
>>
>> But another ad on the same page touts a concert by Miss Rundlett to be
>> given "Monday Evening, May 4, 1863."
>>
>> I believe the date of the paper should be "May 2, 1863" rather than
>> "1858."
>>
>>
>> JL
>>
>> On Tue, Jun 23, 2020 at 3:17 PM <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
>>
>> > I've found an instance of "Dixie" referring to the American South from
>> > 2 May 1858, about a year before it appears in Daniel Emmett's two
>> > songs, "Johnny Roach" and "Dixie." I haven't seen anyone else report on
>> this one.
>> >
>> > Classified Ad. Daily Herald (Newburyport, MA), 2 May 1858, 3. NewsBank:
>> > American’s Historical Newspapers:
>> >
>> > "BOUND FOR DIXIE.
>> > WELL get a good TRAVELLING TRUNK We are almost giving away Traveling
>> > Trunks and have the largest assortment in the city, from $1.37 up to
>> > $20—Now is the time to purchase one [a]t your own price, and then you
>> > can leave just when you like, Your trunk being in order you can
>> > vamoose. Call at TOPPAN & CO’S, 15 State street."
>> >
>> > Newburyport was a major port in the triangular trade of molasses, rum,
>> > and slaves, and many residents would have business ties with and
>> > reason to travel to the South.
>> >
>> > There are references to "Dixey's Land," referring to the children's
>> > game, going back to the 1840s, but I don't know of any earlier
>> geographic ones.
>> >
>> > A full write-up is at:
>> > https://www.wordorigins.org/big-list-entries/dixie
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
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>> --
>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
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>
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> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>

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"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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