Does anyone know what the correct meaning of the term "Oh Crackey!" would be in 1880? The sentence in my book doesn't help "Don't say Oh Crackey!" I'm thinking it means "Darn".

I don't know this crackey, but it makes me wonder about an ever-so-slightly (or more-than-slightly) tangent:

Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care!

What was that cracking corn all about? The master's gone away--but what kind of corn is Jimmy cracking?

Best regards,
WordWonderer

My guess, Ladym (and it is only a guess!) is that it is a corruption of the English term, "Crikey!" which is, of course, yet another eupemism for "Christ."

I think Rhubarb Commando has the right of it.
My Grandfather used "Oh Crikey' But haven't heard it for years. May take it up!

>My guess, Ladym (and it is only a guess!) is that it is a corruption of the English term, "Crikey!"

and a good guess it is, RC. but it's not just a corruption, it's a 19th C. US corruption.

tsuwm, didn't "crackers" become US slang for something good, first rate -- as in the candy Cracker Jack?. Did crackers evolve from cracky, or vice versa; and if so, how?

Crikey is an other euphemism for Christ. I didn't know that. Thanks Rhu.

Who said it? Was it mostly ladies and kiddies who didn't want to appear vulgar or was it said by the general population.

I have heard (read? where?) that Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care! refers to making corn alcohol!

which makes perfect sense! the masters gone away, and someone has started to ferment some corn for a beer.. (unlikely there would be time or the ability to distill it into whiskey)

and that crackers also refers to small farmers who would crack or ferment their own corn.

crack is also use in processing petrolium.. and for processing pine tar into turpintine..(and some say it's for cracking turpintine that crackers are named-)
but i agree that oh crackey is likely to be a euphonism.

but it's not just a corruption, it's a 19th C. US corruption.

Ah well, I guess that's okay then!

And Helen, your list omitted the current most common use of the word "crack" ... cocaine! Or has Uncle Rudi managed to get rid of that off the streets of New York as well on his way to his honorary knighthood?

I have heard (read? where?) that Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care! refers to making corn alcohol! and that crackers also refers to small farmers who would crack or ferment their own corn.

Helen, With a bit of googling I came up with a number of different interpretations.

Jimmy crack corn is said to come from:
--the practice of "corncracking" or grinding dried corn for use as grits and meal;
--the old English term "crack," meaning gossip, and that "cracking corn" was a traditional Shenandoah expression for "sitting around chitchatting."
--cracking open (not "brewing") a jug of corn liquor

My own guess is the first. Rationale: even today, "cracked corn is the prime ration for commercial hogs in the United States", so I suspect that "cracking corn" was a routine and familiar job in earlier farm-life.

BTW, it's thought that the author of the song (published in 1846) was Daniel Emmett, the fellow who later wrote Dixie.

cracker as a derogatory US term for rural white southerner ("used for whites the way the N-word is used for African Americans") is suggested to have come from:

--a Celtic word meaning braggart or loudmouth (Shakespeare; King John: What cracker is this same that deafe our eares with this abundance of superfluous breath?)
--the practice of "corncracking"; thus, a cracker is somebody who can’t afford any other food.
--the sound of whips used to drive cattle and oxen (as in crack the whip)

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~fcc/main/what's_a_cracker.htm
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a981030.html
http://www.motherearthnews.com/askmother/jh.shtml

Dear Yankees and fellow travelers; Down south you would be considered priggish if you exclaimed "Oh Crackey!" The southern and correct expression is "By Crackey!".
As well...

Georgia
Origin of Name: Named by James Oglethorpe for King George II
Nicknames: Peach State, Goober State, Empire State of the South and Yankee-land of the South (refer to economic leadership), Cracker State (originally a derogatory term meaning braggarts, as applied to immigrants into Georgia from the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina), Buzzard State (buzzards were once protected by law in Georgia)

Before the Braves, Atlanta had a minor league baseball team named the Atlanta Crackers.
Even today some black folk call white folk "Crackers" but it lacks bite so no one cares.

Blasphemy was apparently in the word, not the intent.

Crikey is another euphemism

and so are whole raft of other cr- words, like criminy, and cripes ("for cripes' sake"), and probably even cow (as in "holy cow!") - all different ways of changing quickly in mid-utterance as not to be [caught - by others or self -] taking the Lord's name in vain, while still venting intense emotion...

Dear Yankees and fellow travelers; Down south you would be considered priggish if you exclaimed "Oh Crackey!" The southern and correct expression is "By Crackey!".

milum has this right. There was a novelty song popular in the 1930's called "I Love Mountain Music":
I love mountain music,
Good old mountain music,
Played by a real hillbilly band.
When I hear that rhythm
Let me sway right with'em.
I think the melody is grand.
I've heard Hawaiians play to the tune of the wicky-wacky,
But I must say, I'd rather hear Turkey in the Straw, by Crackey...

Don't know who wrote it, but I'm fairly sure it wasn't Cole Porter.

And I, for one, know that Cole Porter didn't write "Jimmy Crack Corn"!

Cole Porter wrote "Anything Goes" because I heard it from the ASp's mouth! And Gilbert and Sullivan did not! I sure as heck can't be accused of not learnin' a thing or two here on this illustrious board!

Beat regards,
DubDiddly

I just came across a talking doll last week that said "Crikey". It was an Australian. (and a little frightening.)

I just came across a talking doll last week that said "Crikey". It was an Australian. (and a little frightening.)

Hmmm, didn't know they were making a doll in my image!! Had to get in before anyone else did ...


Hev