[Ads-l] "little joe from kokomo" and "african billiards"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Earlier still:

1884 _Kansas City Star_ (June 26) 2: The trey-ace is “Little Joe.”

1891 _Owyhee Avalanche_ (Silver City, Ida.) (Sept. 19) 3: Little
Josie!...Big Dick! Seven, by heaven!

1916 _Medford [Ore.] Mail-Tribune_ (Sept. 1) 4:  Craps. Get acquainted with
 Little Joe from Kokomo, Phebe Dice, and Big Dick. Roll the bones and win
big.

JL

On Fri, Jul 15, 2005 at 3:03 PM Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at rcn.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "little joe from kokomo" and "african billiards"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Jul 15, 2005, at 1:36 AM, Douglas G. Wilson wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>
> > Subject:      Re: "little joe from kokomo" and "african billiards"
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --------
> >
> >> (Probably this has
> >> never occurred to any of you civilians, but, strictly speaking, any
> >> civilian outranks the highest-ranking officer in the military.)
> >
> > OTOH, somewhere I read something (humorous) to the effect that some
> > Army
> > lifers consider "civilian" to be the only rank below "private". I
> > suppose
> > this is logical given that conventional career steps such as Private
> > -->
> > PFC --> Corporal are preceded by Civilian --> Private.
> >
> > -- Doug Wilson, Civilian E-zero
> >
>
> In my original unit at Fort Leonard Wood, the quartermaster-sergeant, a
> lifer, used to say "I hate civilians!" almost as a mantra. He probably
> had in mind the fact that civilians are basically free to do as they
> will, since they don't live under military discipline, with a total
> lack of privacy. In my day, even taking a dump had to be done in
> public. OTOH, nothing on civvie street guarantees you "three good hots
> and a decent cot and you don't even have to buy no clothes."
>
> -Wilson Gray
>
>

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

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