Readers recall more old sayings 10/4/2009 5:33 PM By Gene Owens Columnist
Several readers had fun with a recent column on sayings we seldom hear any more and contributed some that still live in their memories.
"You missed a big one," wrote George L. Eagle, an 80-year-old retired gunnery sergeant from Julian, N.C. "How about 'crank the car'?"
It's usually "start the car" now, though some of us old-timers still complain when the car won't crank. The expression, of course, originated in the early days of motoring, before the invention of the self-starter. On the early automobiles, you used a hand crank to start the engine. There was a slot just below the radiator into which you inserted the crank - a tool consisting of a shaft bent at a right angle, like a huge Allen wrench. The crank connected with the crank shaft. Turning the crank caused the engine to turn, building up compression, pumping fuel into the cylinder head and prompting a spark from the distributor. Cranking a car was a strenuous and potentially dangerous job, which is one reason you seldom saw women drivers during the '20s and '30s.
Although the reliable self starter eliminated the need for a crank, it didn't eliminate the word. I now crank my car by inserting the key into the slot and twisting it to engage the starter.
Dave Secor of Greensboro, N.C., remembered several expressions that have faded with age.
"How are you fixed for blades?" used to be a common expression, especially among men who listened to the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports. The reference, of course, was to razor blades, the safety kind that were good for only a couple of shaves apiece. Gillette advertised its blades with a jingle that began, "How are you fixed for blades?" and ended with, "Gillette Blue Blades, we mean."
Dave also remembers when prosperous people were said to be "living in high cotton." Dave cleaned up the line a bit. My dad used another two-syllable word instead of "living," referring to the degree of privacy tall cotton afforded before portable privies became available.
When fish were jumping and the cotton was high, things were good down South. But plummeting cotton prices around 1929 led to the coining of a phrase made popular by folk singer Pete Seegar: "five-cent cotton and 40-cent meat: How in the hell can a poor man eat?"
J.L. Strickland of Valley, Ala., recalled an earthy phrase his grandparents used when describing a troublesome situation: "The cheese is binding." Cheese tended to have an effect opposite to that of green apples, so when the cheese was binding, Grandma might reach for the castor oil.
Strickland also remembers the admonition, "You need to get it on a tight pulley," meaning, "You need to hurry up." He speculates that the expression came from the old cotton-mill days, when machinery ran off overhead pulleys. A loose pulley meant slippage, resulting in slow-running machinery. A tight pulley kept the machinery up to speed.
Speaking of cotton mills, I remember a colorful expression a coworker of mine used when I was a sweeper in the spinning room at Vaucluse. I kept the lint swept from half the spinning room and "Shorty," a middle-aged guy barely over 5 feet tall, swept the other half.
One day, Shorty failed to show up for work, and my coworker informed me, "Shorty just doffed off a set of twins."
Doffers were men who would go up and down the rows of spinning frames, removing the full yarn bobbins and replacing them with empty ones. Good ones could doff faster than the eye could follow. Shorty never became a doffer, but he obviously was no duffer when it came to fathering kids.
Strickland claims a share of the credit for coining an expression in the valley of the Chattahoochee along the Georgia-Alabama border.
"Back in the day, there was a famous fortune teller, Mayhaley Lancaster, who lived in Heard County, Ga.," he said. "Many residents of east Georgia and west Alabama used her services. Kids my age doubted her lauded abilities, and in time, when someone said something we were skeptical of, we would say, 'Aw, mayhaley.'"
I pass no judgment on Ms. Lancaster's prowess as a prophet, but note that other names have made their way into folk lingo to indicate unreliable or unbelievable information.
Among them is "buncombe," often shortened to "bunk." The name goes back to Col. Edward Buncombe, a hero of the American Revolution, who was honored by having a county named after him. Buncombe County, N.C., is the home of Asheville, a beautiful city in a scenic mountain setting, which was also the home of novelist Thomas Wolfe. In the early 19th century, its representative in Congress was Felix Walker. When the Missouri Compromise was being debated before a weary House, Walker began delivering a tedious speech that was irrelevant to the subject under discussion. When colleagues protested, he responded that his speech was for his home folks: He was "talking to Buncombe." Ever since, the word "buncombe" has shared its meaning with an expression meaning "manure from a male bovine."
"Malarkey" is another word that makes country folk think of bull leavings. The dictionaries throw up their hands in trying to trace its origin. Some researchers say it comes from the Irish "mullachan," referring to a strong boy or ruffian. Others say a bull-shooter named Mullarkey, now forgotten to history and folklore, may have been the source of the word. More scholarly researchers point to the Greek word, "malakia," which can mean "worthlessness."
Future word sleuths looking for the origin of "mayhaley" need look no further. J.L. Strickland of Valley, Ala., has told us where it came from, and that's neither buncombe nor malarkey. It isn't even bull.
Readers may write Gene Owens at 315 Lakeforest Circle, Anderson SC 29625, or e-mail him at WadesDixieco@aol.com.
Gene Owens is a retired newspaper editor and columnist who graduated from Graniteville High School and now lives in Anderson.
Notice about comments:
AikenStandard.com is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. AikenStandard.com does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not AikenStandard.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "report abuse" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website.
0