[Ads-l] Wham, bam, thank you, ma'am

Sat May 9 23:33:51 UTC 2020

Thanks to Benjamin Barrett for initiating this thread, and thanks to
Stanton McCandlish and Andy Bach for their valuable comments.

In a previous message I wrote "THANK YOU MAM!" in the July 2, 1941
citation. That was deliberate. It was not a typo. Nevertheless, I did
notice another anomaly in a previous message that did reflect a typo.
I wrote "Thanks you" instead of "Thank you" in a 1950 song title.
Apologies. Please double check all my citations before using them in
any other work.

Green’s Dictionary of Slang has two pertinent entries for:
"wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am" and "wham bam!".

Green's 1940 citation below is bracketed, and the first non-bracketed
citation for the sexual sense appeared in Gershon Legman's famous
compilation. Legman assigned the year 1942 to the instance.
https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/7l66afq

[Begin excerpt]
wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am phr.
also gangbang, thank you ma’am; ram, bam, thank you ma’am;
slam-bam-thank-you-ma’am; whambam; wham-blam-thank-you-ma’am;
wham-wham-wham
[echoic]

[1940 [US] Paul Whiteman [instrumental title] Wham, wham, re, bop, boom, bam].
1942 [US]   joke cited in G. Legman Rationale of the Dirty Joke (1972)
I 199: A little rabbit whose method with his girlfriends is ‘Wham bam,
thank you, Mam.’.
[End excerpt]

Green's also has a germane entry for the foundational phrase "wham
bam!". Green notes the connection to boxing.
https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/nyw4lxi

[Begin excerpt]
wham bam! excl.
also wham bang!
(orig. US) used to express sudden or speedy movement; esp. of a boxer’s punches.
1910 Charlotte News (NC) 27 Mar. 18/1: [Bat nelson] always let them
work themselves out on his ribs [...] But when they were tired — wham!
bam! Curtains.
1926 [US]   Arizona Republican (Phoenix, AZ) 26 Aug. 6/6: [advert]
Wham-Bam! and another guy bit canvas.
[End excerpt]

In a previous message, I gave a September 30, 1941 citation in the
boxing domain for "bam-bam. Thank you mam, the fight was over." This
citation evinces a continuity with the simpler phrase "wham! bam!" It
is possible that the phrase under examination evolved in the boxing
domain and shifted to the sexual domain.

Garson

On Sat, May 9, 2020 at 3:22 PM Andy Bach <afbach at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Related(?) in today’s “Next Draft” digest, the first story is:
> 1
> WHAM, BAM, THANK YOU FAM
> I've been hearing about the notion of creating a circle of trust with one
> other family that you know is practicing safe six (feet of separation). But
> what if the family you didn't select has hurt feelings? Or worse, what if
> the family you choose just isn't that into you? Or as Amanda Coletta asks,
> "What if it says it's not ready for a relationship right now, but wants you
> to know you'll make another household really happy one day?" (And then
> there's always the threat of one of the partnered households having a
> family affair.) *WaPo*: Canadian provinces allow locked-down
> <https://nextdraft.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ed102783e87fee61c1a534a9d&id=f4542b95a7&e=cfa4da8138>
>
> On Sat, May 9, 2020 at 7:53 AM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
> > (2006) pointed to an unambiguous instance of the modern sexual sense
> > in a 1957 novel by Max Shulman which is available in preview mode in
> > Google Books.
> >
> > Date 2016 (1957 Copyright)
> > Novel: Rally Round the Flag, Boys!
> > Author: Max Shulman
> > Unnumbered Page
> > Publisher: Open Road Media, New York
> > Database: Google Books Preview
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > “Now tell me, after I came downstairs in this diaphanous wrapper, what
> > was your plot—to hop in bed with me, hop right out again, and get home
> > before Grace does? Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am?”
> > “Something like that,” he mumbled.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Garson
> >
> > On Sat, May 9, 2020 at 8:35 AM ADSGarson O'Toole
> > <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > The phrase "WHAM! BAM! THANK YOU MAM!" appeared July 1941 at the top
> > > of an advertisement for a drugstore that was printed in an Amarillo,
> > > Texas newspaper. The drugstore was, apparently, thanking their
> > > customers for the rapid increase in business; hence, there was a
> > > non-sexual rationale for employing the phrase.
> > >
> > > Date: July 2, 1941
> > > Newspaper: The Amarillo Globe-Times
> > > Newspaper Location: Amarillo, Texas
> > > Article: (Advertisement for Post Office Drug Store)
> > > Quote Page 3, Column 1
> > > Database: Newspapers.com
> > > https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50563934/wambam/
> > >
> > > [Begin excerpt]
> > > WHAM! BAM!
> > > THANK YOU MAM
> > > The tremendous increase in our business is making it possible
> > > for us  to give you still better prices.
> > > . . .
> > > POST OFFICE
> > > DRUG STORE
> > > [End excerpt]
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> --
> Andy Bach
> Afbach at gmail.com
> Not at my desk
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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