Hello again, mccook!
The phrase does indeed appear in "All the King's Men."
From page 7 of the Harvest paperback:
"Glad to seen you," the Boss said. "Tell your boy to keep his tail
over the dashboard."
From page 416:
"Remember I am not welching. I am just giving you my advice. Keep your
tail over the dashboard."
My grandpa used this phrase occasionally. It is a message of
encouragement, roughly equivalent to "Keep a stiff upper lip, "Keep
your chin up," or "Don't worry, be happy." At least that's what it
meant in Oklahoma, where I grew up. When I lived in Tennessee, I once
heard this used in an opposite sense: "Don't get your tail over the
dashboard," with the obvious meaning "Don't get all het up" or "Don't
get your panties in a bunch."
Here's a plausible explanation of the phrase's origin, from a newsgroup post:
"My father still uses 'Head up and tail over the dashboard' to
describe something that is going very well or in response to 'How are
you?' He once told me that the part of a wagon where the driver puts
his feet is called the dashboard. When a wagon is being pulled by a
horse at a steady, quick pace, the horse is said to have his 'head up
and tail over the dashboard'."
Post from alt.genealogy newsgroup
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.genealogy/msg/a7526c1764a646b1
This newsgroup post gives the contrary meaning, citing it as an East
Texas regionalism:
"When I moved from Louisiana to Houston my immediate boss was a
pixie-like woman from East Texas. I learned some very neat
regionalisms from her.
Go on back to your rat killing (said after you had interrupted someone
who was doing something, didn't matter what, and you were finished)
Don't get your tail over the dashboard - don't get upset."
Post from bit.listserv.dorothyl
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/bit.listserv.dorothyl/msg/b878c374ce52a8d7?dmode=source
In context, it seems to me that the excerpts from "All the King's Men"
carry a meaning similar to my grandpa's: "Don't let anything get you
down."
Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "tail over the dashboard"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22tail+over+the+dashboard%22
Google Web Search: "tail over the dashboard"
http://groups-beta.google.com/groups?q=%22tail%20over%20the%20dashboard%22
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
