[Ads-l] "fist-stamping"

Andy Bach afbach at GMAIL.COM
Thu Mar 19 18:39:00 UTC 2020


In J. Lepore's "These Truths", (p461 Norton paperback)
"Wild-eyed, fist-stamping Louisiana senator Huey Long rallied his followers
by radio, too."

I could find no instances of the hyphenated version, a few like "shook his
fist, stamping his foot on the ground" and one story in Harper's Magazine
vol 116, "Versus the Same" by Margaret Sutton Briscoe with:
"No good!" said my father. He spoke with is teeth set, and brought his hard
fist stamping down on the breakfast table, ...

There's also the good luck/white horse "stamp" (North Carolina and
elsewhere folklore) where you put spit (licking one or two fingers right
hand fingers) onto the middle of palm of your left hand and stamp that with
the base of your right fist when ever you see a white horse to bring you
good luck. (paraphrase - The Frank C. Brown Collection of NC folklore, vol
VII)

So, maybe that's a fist-stamp, akin to the 3 count timing gesture for the
beginning of rock, paper, scissors.  Just never seen it before. I don't
doubt professor Lepore knows what she meant by that.

-- 

a

Andy Bach,
afbach at gmail.com
608 658-1890 cell
608 261-5738 wk

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