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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread American Civil War #945 03/27/00 07:25 AM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 14 sydney australia W whalemeat OP stranger OP whalemeat stranger W Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 14 sydney australia Can anybody help with words or phrases originating from or given particular meanings during the American Civil War? A few examples I know of are 'hookers' (from 'Hooker's girls', the women who visited F J Hookers's quarters in Washington), burnsides/sideburns (A E Burnsides whiskers), 'Tell it to the marines' and 'War is hell' (both Sherman). Is 'skedaddle' a civil war word? It seems to have popped up about then and was certainly used a lot during the war. There must be lots more... 'Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!' Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: American Civil War #946 04/03/00 05:32 PM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass I've read some excellent CW histories which touch on phrases of the time (I suppose someone has collected these). As to 'hooker' being an example, I'm afraid that story may be apocryphal. While Fighting Joe may have not been a man of upstanding moral character, the word hooker was used to mean prostitute at least fifteen years prior to the start of the Civil War, according to sources of the day -- he should be given credit for popularizing it though. ; ) Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: American Civil War #947 04/04/00 06:19 AM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 14 sydney australia W whalemeat OP stranger OP whalemeat stranger W Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 14 sydney australia Yes, I see that usage of 'hooker' was mentioned in a 1956 book called 'Tarheel Talk' and dated in that at 1845. I originally picked up the connection with Fighting Joe from a reference in Gore Vidal's 'Lincoln' and he refers to the use in Washington at that time of 'Hooker's girls'referring to his stream of visitors. I understand that the late Civil War historian, Bruce Catton held Mr FJ responsible for popularising the term and recorded that the Washington red-light district became known as Hooker's Division. Obviously Fighting Joe was a man of prodigious talents. I stand, gratefully, corrected. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary Forum Statistics Forums16 Topics13,915 Posts229,947 Members9,198 Most Online3,341 Dec 9th, 2011 Newest Members testawad, Bill_L, achz, MAGNVSTALSMA, Burlyfish 9,198 Registered Users Who's Online Now 1 members (A C Bowden), 1,008 guests, and 3 robots. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod Top Posters(30 Days) wofahulicodoc 25 A C Bowden 12 LukeJavan8 1 Top Posters wwh 13,858 Faldage 13,803 Jackie 11,613 wofahulicodoc 10,929 tsuwm 10,542 LukeJavan8 9,949 Buffalo Shrdlu 7,210 AnnaStrophic 6,511 Wordwind 6,296 of troy 5,400

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