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plutarch,
I am not suggesting that the expression “Dick Smith-ing” is not derived from the band’s name, I am only acknowledging the possibility that the band may have taken its name from a previously existing expression.
So far, I have not read anything in these posts that definitively establishes from where the expression “Dick Smith-ing” came. I’ve only seen your original statement: “Dick Smith is a band famous for ‘Swillbilly’” and your subsequent statements: “The Dick Smith Band has been around since 1982, plenty of time for them to have established their ‘swillbilly’ reputation” and, “Occam’s Razor.” No offense, but your posts are hardly definitive proof of your apparent (non-stated) assertion that the expression “Dick Smith-ing” is derived from the band’s name, nor is it logically a conclusion.
A band taking its name from a previously existing expression, or well known thing, is not uncommon. For a few examples, consider the names of the following bands: The Infamous They, Dead Kennedys, and to a lesser extent: The Police, and Crash Test Dummies.
Without definitive proof as to where the expression “Dick Smith-ing” came from, one could quite reasonably contend that there are various possibilities to explain the expression’s genesis. To ignore the existence of other possibilities, and to be so quick to wield Occam’s Razor in defense of your assertion, neither supports, nor furthers your apparent argument. Nor, once again, does it preclude the possibility of the band taking its name from a previously existing expression.
If you have definitive proof that the expression is derived from the band’s name, present it. Otherwise, I think the lexicographers would require the words, “probably” or “may” in the explanation of the word’s etymology. Certainly, they would not explain its etymology by writing: “Occam’s Razor tells us …”
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Joined: Oct 2004
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bevman,
To pursue the possibility of plutarch’s suggestion: when did you first hear your father use the expression, i.e. what year?
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Well, it could have been this Dick Smith, Dgeigh --- but it seems unlikely: "Dick Smith--writer, artist, photographer--was deeply devoted to preservation of the wild and was called by some the "conscience of Santa Barbara." The Wilderness that bears his name is an area of extremely rugged terrain with elevations varying from 3,750 feet along the Cayuma Rim to 6,541 feet atop Madulce Peak to the west. Chaparral dominates the vegetation, but a splendid collection of mixed conifers grows around Madulce Peak." http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=wildView&wname=Dick Smith Wildernessre "I think the lexicographers would require the words, “probably” or “may” in the explanation of the word’s etymology."OK, "probably" the reference is to the Dick Smith band which adopted the name in 1982. It isn't every mystery which warrants a "definitive" answer, Dgeigh -- which is why Occam's Razor comes in so handy, at least for me. But for anyone looking for a "definitive" answer, I would agree that finding out how long the name was used by Bevman's father would be a good place to start.
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