[Ads-l] Antedating of "DIg" (Jazz Slang)

[Ben Zimmer]

OED2 sense 6c for "dig" has two subsenses: "a) To understand, appreciate,
like, admire; (b) to look at or listen to; to experience." The Sept. 1935
cite that's currently the OED's earliest for that sense (from the UK
periodical _Hot News and Rhythm Record Review_, "If you listen enough, and
dig him enough...") can be found in GDoS under sense 5, "to pay close
attention to" (rather than sense 3, "to appreciate, to enjoy, to love," or
sense 4 "to understand"). It's challenging to tease all these nuances apart!

In addition to "plant you now, dig you later" mentioned by Peter, the slang
dictionaries include another "plant"/"dig" expression. According to Michael
Starks' 1982 book _Cocaine Fiends and Reefer Madness_, the 1934 film
_Murder at the Vanities_ features a song called "Sweet Marijuana Brown"
with the line, "She plants, you dig -- she's flipped her wig." Citing the
Starks book, HDAS includes this as its earliest cite for "dig" sense 5a,
"to understand, comprehend" (though the cite omits the "she plants" part).
GDoS doesn't include this in its "dig" entry but does include it under
"wig" as the earliest cite for "flip one's wig," citing the film script
directly.

HDAS "dig":
https://archive.org/details/randomhousehisto01ligh/page/590/mode/2up
GDoS "dig": https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/3lqt5la
GDoS "wig": https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/xk76wdq
_Cocaine Fiends_: https://books.google.com/books?id=gQhFCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA101

I'm having trouble confirming this cite, though. In online clips from the
film, I'm just finding the musical number "Sweet Marijuana" (no "Brown"),
without the "dig"/"wig" line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld1_mZrOlek
https://www.classicmoviehub.com/blog/sweet-marijuana-and-murder-at-the-vanities/

There is, however, a later song called "Sweet Marijuana Brown" recorded by
the Barney Bigard Sextet in 1945 (lyrics by Leonard Feather), and that does
have the "dig"/"wig" line. It seems these two different songs may have been
conflated.

https://archive.org/details/78_sweet-marijuana-brown_barney-bigard-sextet-joe-thomas-barney-bigard-art-tatum-stan_gbia0154473a
https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Barney-Bigard-Sextet/Sweet-Marijuana-Brown

--bgz

On Wed, Mar 12, 2025 at 3:19 PM Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:

> As used here, "dig" likely means "see."  This would be consistent with the
> expression, "plant you now, dig you later," that appeared as early as
> January 1934, and several more times during the same year, in The New York
> Age (newspapers.com).
>
> As explained in a few articles over the next few years in various articles
> elsewhere, the expression meant, "take it easy, see you later."  In the
> 30s, it was said to be Harlem slang, or in the Cab Calloway dictionary.  By
> the 40s, teenage slang or military slang.  Rodgers and Hart wrote a song by
> that title for Pal Joey in 1940.
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2025 4:48:01 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Antedating of "DIg" (Jazz Slang)
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Antedating of "DIg" (Jazz Slang)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> dig, v. (OED, 6.c., 1935)
>
> 1934 Chicago Defender 8 Sept. 8 (ProQuest)
>
> Clyde Bernhart, trombone, is swinging with Vernon Andrads' band; says that
> we can dig him at 220 W. 129th street, New York City.
>
>
>

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