[Q] From Cristlyn Randazzo: What is the origin of the expression ‘I’ll be your Huckleberry’? What exactly does it mean?
[A] What it means is easy enough. To be one’s huckleberry — usually as the phraseI’m your huckleberry — is to be just the right person for a given job, or a willing executor of some commission. Where it comes from needs a bit more explaining.
First a bit of botanical history. When European settlers arrived in the New World, they found several plants that provided small, dark-coloured sweet berries. They reminded them of the English bilberry and similar fruits and they gave them one of the dialect terms they knew for them, hurtleberry, whose origin is unknown (though some say it has something to do with hurt, from the bruised colour of the berries; a related British dialect form is whortleberry). Very early on — at the latest 1670 — this was corrupted to huckleberry.
As huckleberries are small, dark and rather insignificant, in the early part of the nineteenth century the word became a synonym for something humble or minor, or a tiny amount. An example from 1832: “He was within a huckleberry of being smothered to death”. Later on it came to mean somebody inconsequential. Mark Twain borrowed some aspects of these ideas to name his famous character, Huckleberry Finn. His idea, as he told an interviewer in 1895, was to establish that he was a boy “of lower extraction or degree” than Tom Sawyer.
Also around the 1830s, we see the same idea of something small being elaborated and bombasted in the way so typical of the period to make the comparison a huckleberry to a persimmon, the persimmon being so much larger that it immediately establishes the image of something tiny against something substantial. There’s also a huckleberry over one’s persimmon, something just a little bit beyond one’s reach or abilities; an example is in David Crockett: His Life and Adventures by John S C Abbott, of 1874: “This was a hard business on me, for I could just barely write my own name. But to do this, and write the warrants too, was at least a huckleberry over my persimmon”.
Quite how I’m your huckleberry came out of all that with the sense of the man for the job isn’t obvious. It seems that the word came to be given as a mark of affection or comradeship to one’s partner or sidekick. There is often an identification of oneself as a willing helper or assistant about it, as here in True to Himself, by Edward Stratemeyer, dated 1900: “ ‘I will pay you for whatever you do for me.’ ‘Then I’m your huckleberry. Who are you and what do you want to know?’ ”. Despite the obvious associations, it doesn’t seem to derive directly from Mark Twain’s books.
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-huc1.htm
"He smells like ribbon candy"
Ribbon candy is an old-fashioned favorite. This hard candy recipe is a traditional pulled candy that can be colored and flavored in any way you like.
http://candy.about.com/od/hardcandyrecipes/r/ribbon_candy.htm
Kumquat
Kumquats have been called "the little gems of the citrus family". They were included in the genus Citrus until about 1915 when Dr. Walter T. Swingle set them apart in the genus Fortunella, which embraces six Asiatic species. The common name, which has been spelled cumquat, or comquot, means "gold orange" in China. The Japanese equivalent is kin kan or kin kit for the round type, too kin kan, for the oval type. In Southeast Asia, the round is called kin, kin kuit, or kuit xu, and the oval, chu tsu or chantu. In Brazil, the trade name may be kumquat, kunquat, or laranja de ouro, dos orientais.
 |
| Fig. 45: Nagami, or Oval, kumquat (Fortunella margarita) (left); and Marumi, or Round, kumquat (F. japonica) (right). |
The kumquat tree is slow-growing, shrubby, compact, 8 to 15 ft (2.4-4.5 m) tall, the branches light-green and angled when young, thornless or with a few spines. The apparently simple leaves are alternate, lanceolate, 1 1/4 to 3 3/8 in (3.25-8.6 cm) long, finely toothed from the apex to the middle, dark-green, glossy above, lighter beneath. Sweetly fragrant, 5-parted, white flowers are borne singly or 1 to 4 together in the leaf axils. The fruit is oval-oblong or round, 5/8 to 1 1/2 in (1.6-4 cm) wide; peel is golden-yellow to reddish-orange, with large, conspicuous oil glands, fleshy, thick, tightly clinging, edible, the outer layer spicy, the inner layer sweet; the pulp is scant, in 3 to 6 segments, not very juicy, acid to subacid; contains small, pointed seeds or sometimes none; they are green within.
Kumquats are believed native to China. They were described in Chinese literature in 1178 A.D. A European writer in 1646 mentioned the fruit as having been described to him by a Portuguese missionary who had labored 22 years in China. In 1712, kumquats were included in a list of plants cultivated in Japan. They have been grown in Europe and North America since the mid-19th Century, mainly as ornamental dooryard trees and as potted specimens in patios and greenhouses. They are grown mainly in California, Florida and Texas; to a lesser extent in Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Surinam, Colombia and Brazil. In South India, they can be grown only at high elevations. There is limited cultivation in Australia and South Africa.
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/kumquat.html
Psychogenic Amnesia
Psychogenic amnesia, also known as functional or dissociative amnesia, is a disorder characterized by abnormal memory functioning in the absence of structural brain damage or a known neurobiological cause; severe cases are very rare.[1] It is defined by the presence ofretrograde amnesia or the inability to retrieve stored memories and events leading up to the onset of amnesia and an absence of anterograde amnesia or the inability to form new long term memories.[2][3][4] In most cases, patients lose their autobiographical memory and personal identity even though they are able to learn new information and perform everyday functions normally. Other times, there may be a loss of basic semantic knowledge and procedural skills such as reading and writing.[5]
There are two types of psychogenic amnesia, global and situation-specific.[5][6]Global amnesia, also known as fugue state, refers to a sudden loss of personal identity that lasts a few hours to days.[4] This is preceded by severe stress and/or depressed mood. Fugue state is very rare, and usually resolves over time, often helped by therapy.[7] Situation-specific amnesia is a type of dissociative amnesia occurs as a result of a severely stressful event, as in post-traumatic stress disorder. Dissociative amnesia is due to psychological rather than physiological causes and can sometimes be helped by therapy.[7]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychogenic_amnesia
Filofax
Filofax is a company based in the UK that produces a range of personal organisers that are traditionally leather bound and have a six-ring loose-leaf binder system. The design originated at Lefax, a Philadelphia based company whose products they imported into the UK.
These organisers are available in over fifteen countries in the following sizes: A4, A5, Slimline, Personal, Pocket, Mini, Compact and Pocket Slimline.
The name originates from an abbreviation of the phrase "file of facts". This name for the product was coined when the UK company was founded in 1921. The popularity of the Filofax grew enormously during the early 1980's due, in part, to them being stocked by the British fashion designer Paul Smith in his shops. They were associated with Yuppie Culture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filofax
Manacle
man·a·cle
play_w2("M0070200")
(mn-kl)
n.
1. A device for confining the hands, usually consisting of a set of two metal rings that are fastened about the wrists and joined by a metal chain.
2. Something that confines or restrains.
tr.v. man·a·cled, man·a·cling, man·a·cles
To confine or restrain with or as if with manacles; fetter. See Synonyms at hamper1.
[Middle English, from Old French manicle, from Latin manicula, diminutive of manus, hand; see man-2 in Indo-European roots.]
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/manacle
"Like a hurdy-gurdy? If I turn your crank will you play?"
The hurdy gurdy or hurdy-gurdy (also known as a wheel fiddle) is a stringed musical instruments in which the strings are sounded by means of a rosined wheel which the strings of the instrument pass over. This wheel, turned with a crank, functions much like a violin bow, making the instrument essentially a mechanical violin. Melodies are played on a keyboard that presses tangents (small wedges, usually made of wood) against one or more of these strings to change their pitch. Like most other acoustic string instruments, it has a soundboard to make the vibration of the strings audible.
Most hurdy gurdies have multiple "drone strings" which provide a constant pitch accompaniment to the melody, resulting in a sound similar to that of bagpipes. For this reason, the hurdy gurdy is often used interchangeably with or along with bagpipes, particularly in French and contemporary Hungarian folk music.
Many folk music festivals in Europe feature music groups with hurdy gurdy players, but the most famous annual festival is at Saint-Chartier, in the Indre département, in central France, during the week nearest July 14 (Bastille Day).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurdy_gurdy
"And then we'll shuffle off to Buffalo. "
A song from the musical 42nd street
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42nd_Street_(musical)#Song_list
"(Beat) Wanna play "I Went on a Picnic"? "
I went on a picnic and I brought? I love to play this game in the car, anyone else like to play it? Starting with A, list something you brought on a picnic, all the way down to z and then maybe start over again going backwards with different things?
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/386957
" heading to the Friendly's for a treat."
We are a company founded on ice cream but built around families. We opened our first Friendly's Ice Cream Shop in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1935. Friendly's is a place where hungry people can sit together, eat together, joke together and debate about who has the best way to eat an ice cream sundae, where sons can find out why lefty pitchers are harder to hit and where families can meet up to get an extra fifteen minutes of talk time over our famous ice cream.We are committed to quality in everything we do, from our made to order Friendly's Big Beef® Burgers to our signature SuperMelt™ Sandwiches every meal with classic comfort foods and delicious new dishes that you can only find at Friendly's. And we end every meal with unbelievable homemade ice cream in limitless sizes, shapes, and flavors.For over 70 years, we've built a place that brings you a friendly staff, reasonable prices, and a thousand sweet ways to end your day. That's why we truly are the one place Where Ice Cream Makes The Meal®.
http://www.friendlys.com/about/
"Kinda early for a Fribble, isn't it?"
Item on the kid's menu at Friendly's restaurants.
http://www.friendlys.com/menu/kids/
Flatfoot
In the early part of the 20th century, New York policeman as well as other larger metropolitan areas employed patrols on foot..............they walked so much some acquired fallen arches, thus "flat feet". Since that time, foot patrols have been slangily referred to as 'flat foots".
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080719192424AA8AGOj
"I don't think we need you pulling a Rodney King here."
Rodney Glen King (born April 2, 1965 in Sacramento, California) is a Black American who, on March 3, 1991, was the victim of police brutality, committed by Los Angeles police officers. A bystander, George Holliday, videotaped much of the incident from a distance.
The footage showed LAPD officers repeatedly striking King with their batons. A portion of this footage was aired by news agencies around the world, causing public outrage that raised tensions between the black community and the LAPD and increased anger over police brutality and issues such as unemployment, racial tension, poverty, and numerous other social inequalities in the black/African-American community.
Four LAPD officers were later tried in a state court for the beating but were acquitted. The announcement of the acquittals sparked the 1992 Los Angeles Riots.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_King
"Cinderella, dressed in yella.
Went downstairs to kiss a fella.
Made a mistake and kissed a snake.
How many doctors did it take?
One. Two. Three. Four"
A skipping rhyme (occasionally skipping-rope rhyme or jump-rope rhyme), is a rhyme chanted by children while skipping. Such rhymes have been recorded in all cultures where skipping is played. Examples of English-language rhymes have been found going back to at least the 17th century. Like most folklore, skipping rhymes tend be found in many different variations.
Some rhymes are intended to count the number of jumps the skipper takes without stumbling. These rhymes can take very simple forms, such as this chant collected in London in the 1950s:
Big Ben strikes one,
Big Ben strikes two,
Big Ben strikes three,
(etc.)
Counting rhymes
Other counting chants are more sophisticated, beginning with a rhyme and then counting the number of jumps to answer a question posed in the last line.
Cinderella
Dressed in yella
Went downstairs to kiss her fella.
She made a mistake
And kissed a snake.
How many doctors will it take?
1! 2! 3! 4! (etc.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jump-rope_rhyme
Kewpie doll
Kewpie dolls and figurines are based on comic strip-like illustrations by Rose O'Neill that appeared in Ladies' Home Journal in 1909. The small dolls were extremely popular in the early 1900s. They were first produced in Ohrdruf, a small town in Germany, then famous for its toy-manufacturers. They were made out of bisque and then celluloid. In 1949, Effanbee created the first hard plastic versions.
Their name, often shortened to "Kewpies", is derived from "cupid"[1], the Roman god of beauty and non-platonic love. The early dolls, especially signed or bisque, are highly collectible and worth thousands of dollars. The time capsule at the 1939 New York World's Fair contained a Kewpie doll. The term "Kewpie doll" is sometimes mistakenly applied to the troll doll.
Many other articles were made using their images, for example, coloring and poem books, cups, plates, curios, etc. The incredible success of these characters made their creator rich and famous. It's a rare example of a woman becoming successful in the media business at such an early date. Kewpies should not be confused with the baby-like Billiken figures that debuted in 1908.
The Kewpie doll was mentioned in Anne Frank's diary. She received one on her first St Nicholas Day in the Annex from Miep and Bep.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kewpie_doll_(toy)
"Yeah, in the yard."
Prison yard
Shiv
A shiv (from the Romani word chiv) is a slang term for any sharp or pointed implement used as a knife-like weapon, including knives themselves. However, the word in practical usage is frequently used when referring to an improvised bladed weapon. Shivs are commonly made by inmates in prisons across the world. A shiv can be anything from a glass shard with cloth or plastic fabric wrapped around one end to form a handle to a razorblade stuck in the end of a toothbrush. Some inmates have even sharpened the ends of pork chop bones to make them into weapons.[citation needed]
"Shiv" can also be used as a transitive verb, as in "to shiv [someone]", meaning "to cut or stab one with a shiv".
Synonyms include shank (from the metal shanks of prison-issued boots[citation needed]) and chib (from Scottish slang, as exemplified in the novel Trainspotting). Both terms, like "shiv", can be used either as a noun or a transitive verb, referring to a makeshift blade weapon or the act of attacking with such a weapon, respectively.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiv_(weapon)
"A cacophony of noise from all of them:"
ca⋅coph⋅o⋅ny
/kəˈkɒfəni/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [kuh-kof-uh-nee]
–noun, plural -nies.
1.
harsh discordance of sound; dissonance: a cacophony of hoots, cackles, and wails.
2.
a discordant and meaningless mixture of sounds: the cacophony produced by city traffic at midday.
3.
Music. frequent use of discords of a harshness and relationship difficult to understand.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cacophony
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