Gary Henderson (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kaasirpent) wrote2012-06-11 06:42 pm
kaasirpent) wrote2012-06-11 06:42 pm
Fumbling Pork
I love language. All the nooks and crannies and blind alleys and curlicues and gewgaws that it has to offer. Slang is especially interesting, because sometimes it comes and goes so quickly, but other times, it hangs around for decades or more.
I was listening to the podcast version of a radio show I love called "A Way With Words." The hosts take calls1 about language and answer them.
In the most recent episode, a woman who said she is a journalist called. She was waiting at a Tacoma, Washington police station to see someone, and it was taking a long time, so she had time to browse through some historical papers they had available for the public. One of them was a police report filed on July 13, 1946:
You can figure out a lot of it because some of those are still in use, or we've heard them in films from that era. "Going on the lam," "made a beef," "fingered him," and "handle" in particular are probably familiar to most everyone. But the caller and her co-workers were unable to figure out especially what "punk on the stem," "topside of a flicker," and "bird" meant.
According to Grant Barrett (co-host of the show), this is what that means:
Ain't English neat?
I was listening to the podcast version of a radio show I love called "A Way With Words." The hosts take calls1 about language and answer them.
In the most recent episode, a woman who said she is a journalist called. She was waiting at a Tacoma, Washington police station to see someone, and it was taking a long time, so she had time to browse through some historical papers they had available for the public. One of them was a police report filed on July 13, 1946:
This Jasper picked up a punk on the stem and took him topside of a flicker. After a bit, he gave the boy's pork a fumble. The boy didn't think that was so hot, so he took it on the lam and made a beef to the boss. I answered the call and the boy fingered him at 10th and Broadway. The manager has several beefs on this same bird and has the handle of the beefer.Her question was, essentially, "Huh-whuh?"
You can figure out a lot of it because some of those are still in use, or we've heard them in films from that era. "Going on the lam," "made a beef," "fingered him," and "handle" in particular are probably familiar to most everyone. But the caller and her co-workers were unable to figure out especially what "punk on the stem," "topside of a flicker," and "bird" meant.
According to Grant Barrett (co-host of the show), this is what that means:
This rube picked up a kid on the main street of town and took him to the balcony of a movie house. After a bit, he gave the boy's crotch a feel. The boy didn't like it, so he took off and complained to the manager of the theater. I answered the call and the boy recognized the offender at 10th and Broadway. The manager has several complaints about the same dude, and has the name of the kid.Grant also noted that he is 99% sure that this represents a joke on the part of the officer who, 66 years ago, penned this particular report. No one ever spoke like that. You have to try hard to cram that many slang terms into one paragraph, so his assessment was that this was a joke, and the real report was written in more formal Police-lingo, and filed. The joke survived, though, for this reporter to find it so many years later and puzzle over the language.
Ain't English neat?
- You can call their hotline and leave a message or send email. If the question is entertaining enough, they'll call back and record the conversation for later editing into what sounds like a sequentially recorded show. The illusion is pretty strong, actually.