[Ads-l] "Ride the lightning" = tase

Sat Apr 24 22:15:27 UTC 2021

Great work, G.

Cf.:

1827 _Fayetteville [N.C.] Weekly Observer_  (Dec. 27) 3:  I can ride upon a
streak of lightning, whip my weight in wildcats, and if any gentleman
chooses for a twenty dollar bill he may throw in a panther.

1829 _The Ariel : A Literary Gazette_ (Feb. 7) 167 : Davy [Crockett]
assured his companions that he could wade the Mississippi with a steam-boat
on his back, whip his weight in wildcats, and "ride a streak of lightning
bare-backed."

1851  Henry B. Maglathlin, ed. _The National Speaker_ (7th ed.) 289
(Boston: R.S. Davies):  _Edgar._ Can you ride a streak of lightning,
bareback?  _Jona._ I can, when the bridle is on.

1910 Alan Lomax _Cowboy Songs_ (N.Y.: Sturgis) 310: I rope a streak of
lightning, and ride it where I please.

And also cf. Addison's (once) famous, Zeusy characterization of the Duke of
Marlborough at Blenheim:

     Calm and serene, he drives the furious blast;

     And, pleas’d th’ Almighty's orders to perform,

     Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm.

JL

On Mon, Apr 12, 2021 at 2:23 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
wrote:

> While searching I discovered that many horses were named "Lightning".
>
> Here is some more information about the "electric chair" and "taser"
> senses of the phrase.
>
> JL's superlative "Random House Historical Dictionary of American
> Slang, Volume 2: H to O" has an entry for "ride the lightning" on page
> 433. The first citation is dated 1935.
>
> The impressive"Green’s Dictionary of Slang" (GDOS) has pertinent data:
> https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/2fo4pwy#eh4wema
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> ride the lightning (v.)
> 1. (US) to be executed in the electric chair.
>     1925 [US] Black Mask Aug. III 61: You’ll ride for his murder
>     1933 [US] C. Himes ‘His Last Day’ in Coll. Stories (1990) 292: He
> [...] had returned in less than a year after his release to ride the
> lightning in the hot-squat.
>
> 2. to be given a course of electro-convulsive therapy (ECT).
>     2012 [UK] D. O’Donnell Locked Ward (2013) 87: Dr Bankstreet
> decided to try ECT [...] riding the lightning, as we call it.
> [End excerpt]
>
> The 1925 citation supplied by GDOS does not contain the full phrase.
>
> The Oxford English Dictionary has an entry with a 1932 citation for
> the pertinent sense as noted by Bonnie:
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> ride, v.
> Phrases P3. With reference to punishment.
> d. U.S. slang to ride the lightning: to be executed in the electric chair.
> 1932   C. Himes His Last Day in Abbott's Monthly Nov. 33/1   Death row
> at Big Meadows where he had..returned in less than a year after his
> release to ride the lightning in the hot-squat.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Here is a 1931 citation for the "electric chair" sense.
>
> Date: April 20, 1931
> Newspaper: The Plain Speaker
> Newspaper Location: Hazleton, Pennsylvania
> Article: Last Move To Escape Chair
> Quote Page 11, Column 8
> Database: Newspapers.com
> https://www.newspapers.com/image/500336360/
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> There are six men from the state who wish to escape "riding the
> lightning" as the racketeers call death in the chair.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Below are two 2006 citations illustrating the taser sense of the phrase.
>
> Date: February 01, 2006
> Newspaper: The Times-News
> Newspaper Location: Twin Falls, Idaho
> Article: Police take ride on the lightning
> Author: Bob Kirkpatrick (Times-News writer)
> Quote Page 1, Column 2
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Police take ride on the lightning
>
> Imagine getting hit by 50,000 volts of electricity. That's what
> deputies with the Twin Falls County Sheriff's Office have at their
> command with the new X26 Taser, and that's what Lt. Don Newman endured
> Tuesday when he volunteered to be shocked during a training session.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Date: November 21, 2006
> Newspaper: The Santa Fe New Mexican
> Newspaper Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico
> Article: Web Posting Excerpts
> Quote Page A6, Column 5
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> These messages were posted by SteveTensi13 on The Orange Mane Web site:
> "I like to call it 'ride the lightning!' 50,000 volts of persuasion.
> Do as I say or suffer the consequences," SteveTensi13 wrote about
> Taser stun guns Nov. 16.
> [End excerpt]
>
> On Mon, Apr 12, 2021 at 9:40 AM Bonnie Taylor-Blake
> <b.taylorblake at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Some of you may have seen the really terrifying footage of a young
> (black)
> > Army lieutenant confronted by police in a December, 2020 traffic stop in
> > Windsor, Virginia. (The case has only now come to national attention with
> > the filing of a complaint.)
> >
> >
> https://www.npr.org/2021/04/11/986271819/officer-who-handcuffed-and-pepper-sprayed-black-army-lieutenant-is-fired
> >
> > The NPR piece mentions that,
> >
> > ---------------------------
> >
> > The murder threat, the complaint claims, comes from [police officer]
> > Gutierrez's comment that [driver] Nazario was fixing to "ride the
> > lightning" — a colloquial expression for execution that refers to death
> by
> > electric chair.
> >
> > In the police report, Gutierrez indicates that he threatened to use his
> > Taser on Nazario. Nazario's lawyer, Jonathan Arthur, told NPR that even
> if
> > Gutierrez meant to refer to using a Taser on Nazario when he talked about
> > riding the lightning, he said, the video "leaves little doubt" that he
> also
> > "meant and intended every word of the implicit meaning."
> >
> > ---------------------------
> >
> > OED indeed has "ride the lightning" as an idiom for execution by electric
> > chair and holds that it dates back to 1932.
> >
> > I see, however, that urbandictionary.com has as its second meaning
> (after
> > execution by electric chair),
> >
> > "A slang phrase used by police to refer to the use of a Taser against an
> > individual."
> >
> > A usage example is,
> >
> > "If you ever hear a police officer ask if you want to "Ride the
> Lightning,"
> > you'd better start cooperating."
> >
> > This new usage was submitted at the end of 2007, but may be older.
> >
> > So, perhaps it's time for the OED to enlarge its definition.
> >
> > But the whole thing, including the police jargon, is disturbing.
> >
> > -- Bonnie
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

-- 
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