[Ads-l] Paws off Pompey

[Stephen Goranson]

It's been years since I looked into Pompey uses, but, provisionally:
Was Napoleon often called Pompey?
Wasn't Napoleon's writing more favorable to Caesar than to Pompey?
Isn't it the case that Portsmouth folk, especially the football team, proudly associated themselves from Pompey, as in the chant, "Play up Pompey!"
"Hands off Pompey"
"Paws off Pompey"
sometimes to a dog
sometimes on a ship
from a seaport
like Portsmouth
and
a dog can be a mascot

SG
________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Friday, April 26, 2024 9:24 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Paws off Pompey

I'm forced to concur.

JL

On Fri, Apr 26, 2024 at 7:33 AM dave at wilton.net <dave at wilton.net> wrote:

>
> I think Napoleon in the referent. That fits with the other citations of
> the phrase in the OED (paw, n1.2c), where the metaphor is that of calling
> off a dog named "Pompey," a popular dog name back in the day.
>
> I don't know of any use of "Pompey" to refer to Britain. And a meaning
> "keep your paws off of Portsmouth" is unlikely. Expecting scrupulous
> adherence to punctuation in a cartoon speech balloon is expecting too much.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2024 6:03pm
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Paws off Pompey
>
>
>
> Looks to me like Britain is the only likely referent.
>
> JL
>
> On Thu, Apr 25, 2024 at 5:26 PM Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu>
> wrote:
>
> > Pompey is a known nickname for the seaport Portsmouth, England.
> > Napoleon has also sometimes (less often) been compared to Pompey.
> > In this early print (note no comma suggesting Napoleon and Pompey are
> > appositives) is Pompey meant as representing England?
> > Enlarge the print to read the words.
> > https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1868-0808-7101__;!!OToaGQ!uZNo2mHBIIWhX9POqnxH1KdyCArjrXyZaG5DuCZJUc1dM5gDHXJrEofj30BWgbyJtQ2_4GNj1x7LG-gpFPt-_A$
> >
> > Stephen Goranson
> >
> > paws off
> > hands off
> > Pompey
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
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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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