[Ads-l] Dixie (1858)

Wed Jun 24 16:01:44 UTC 2020

 "Independent coinage" seems to be a stretch here,  It may be that Emmett
knew the name of the game, which he then associated with the minstrel show
slave "Dixey," and then thought "Dixey's Land" would be a catchy minstrel
moniker for the South, or the patch of the South where his skits were set.

Just guessing.

JL

Thanks for the clarification.

On Wed, Jun 24, 2020 at 9:01 AM dave at wilton.net <dave at wilton.net> wrote:

>
> "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
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
> >> > https://www.avast.com/antivirus
> >> >
> >> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> >> truth."
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
> >> https://www.avast.com/antivirus
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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

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