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Subject:
Origin of slang expression
Category: Reference, Education and News > General Reference Asked by: kenmkuhl-ga List Price: $5.00 |
Posted:
17 Jun 2002 23:03 PDT
Expires: 24 Jun 2002 23:03 PDT Question ID: 28311 |
I am looking for the ORIGIN of an expression I often heard used by members of my family while growing up in Saint Louis, Missouri. I have never seen the expression written, so I do not know how it is spelled, but here is how I would spell it: gee manatly. Its use is similar to the expressions, holy cow, good grief, or good Lord. Eg. Gee Manatly, that is a gigantic building! Phonetically, it is pronounced Gee Ma Nat Lee. The accent is on the Nat. I am a little unclear in my memory of the exact vowel sound in the Ma portion. I would say it is most like the word man. |
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Subject:
Re: Origin of slang expression
Answered By: rmhultd-ga on 19 Jun 2002 15:27 PDT Rated: |
Geemaninee, dontcha just love English?! I grew up in the south, so this answer is drawn from both personal experience and professional reference. According to "A Dictionary of Euphamisms & Other Doubletalk" by Hugh Rawson, Crown Publishers NY 1981: "...Other "gee" substitutes for "Jesus" include gee-hollikins, gee-my-knee, geewhilliker(s), geewhillikins (possibly the progenitor of "gee"), gee whiz (perhaps from "gee ziz"), and geewizard, as well as such sound-alikes as Jee, Jeez, jeepers (-creepers), Jiminy Cricket, and Jingo. Many attempts also have been made to mitigate the sinfulness of the oath by extending the holy name..." In our attempts to express ourselves and not get escorted behind the wood shed, we kids would create all kinds of vocal gesticulations! I've enjoyed this sojourn down memory lane. Thanks! rmhultd-ga | |
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kenmkuhl-ga
rated this answer:
I am surprised that rmhultd-ga would risk their 'researcher reputation' by offering such an incomplete answer. (They must really need my $5!) Especially when a someone (lisarea-ga) had previously left a comment that actually addressed the question and made great strides to answering it. rmhultd-ga, you only attempted to tackle the first 3 letters of the word/phrase I asked about, and even that part was covered briefly and incompletely. lisarea-ga: thank you SO much for your comment. I wish you had submitted it as an answer! You would have gotten a high rating. After reading your comment, I too remember hearing 'Criminutles' and am certain there is a relation...probably just a vernacular variation. lisarea-ga, larre-ga, andgertelsen-ga, thank you all for your helpful comments! rmhultd-ga, nothing personal, but please actually put in an effort when answering a question that is important enough to someone for them to pay you for an answer. -kenmkuhl |
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Subject:
Re: Origin of slang expression
From: larre-ga on 17 Jun 2002 23:41 PDT |
Could it be a variation of jiminy? (gee-man-KNEE) Jimminy/by Jiminy: a mild oath or exclamation. Originally from the 17th Century corruption of Gemini. The later variations Jimminy Christmas and Jiminy Cricket are variations of Jesu Domine, or Jesus Christ. ~larre-ga |
Subject:
Re: Origin of slang expression
From: gertelsen-ga on 18 Jun 2002 00:49 PDT |
There is a slang Antwerp (Belgium) expression "jumenas" which sounds more or less the same, it would be pronounced "Gee Ma Nas", and it would be used in similar situations as you describe. And, in the Netherlands "jeminee" - pronounced "yay-mi-nay" - is very often used in similar situations. That would match with the comment from Larre... (see also http://www.santesson.com/enedrel.htm). Both "jumenas" and "jeminee" are used in Dutch, but both are slang words. Hope that helps... |
Subject:
Re: Origin of slang expression
From: lisarea-ga on 18 Jun 2002 09:57 PDT |
Not an answer, but maybe a link in the chain. My father grew up during the Depression in Detriot, and among his colorful vocabulary were a couple of words that might help you. When expressing slight anger or distaste, he'd say something I'd spell as 'Crimines,' which was pronounced sort of like 'Crime in knees.' I suspect it's simply a plural form of the relatively common 'Criminy.' However, when faced with a slight that was not so slight, my father would draw out the first syllable as 'Crimiiii,' lowering his tone slightly, obviously meditating on the issue, then practically spit out 'NUT,' and end, finally, with the denoument 'lees.' I have absolutely no documentation or appeal to authority on this--I guess you'd have to be there--but 'criminutles' was clearly a stronger form of 'crimines.' This word I'd spell 'criminutles,' but a Google search is automatically redirecting me to a search on "Criminals." Searching on "crimines" gets me typos for variants of 'criminal' and Spanish-language pages. "Criminy" gets me lots of mild complaining, but no real explanation. The explanation you've already gotten does seem likely. Linguistics is not an exact science, but I'd begin with the explanation that led you through the 'Jiminy' variations, then perhaps add the evolution to 'Criminy/Crimines,' then through my father's escalation to 'Criminutles,' then on to your word in question, 'Gee Manatly.' It seems a logical progression, for large enough values of the term 'logical,' anyway. Remember, too, that these sort of exclamations are often intentionally obfuscated. Imagine someone hitting his thumb with a hammer, opening his mouth to express his anger and despair at the situation, then noticing his mother standing there, and having to come up with something on the fly. Something like 'Cheese and crackers,' 'For crying out loud,' or possibly, 'Gee Manatly.' And note that, with use, such terms themselves may become unsuitable for mom, so the next time the situation replays, the term may need to be re-obfuscated, which could explain the rapid evolution. It's also likely that the term 'branched' at various points--these things don't spread via national media--so it's probably not strictly a linear evolution, either. 'Gee Manatly' may well be a parallel development to 'Criminutles' with a similar progression. Boy howdy, this is fun. Lisa. |
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