Comments on: Ever Been Diddled?

Ever Been Diddled?

Bookhouse — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 19:05:23 -0800

Excerpts from Pissing in the Snow, a collection of ribald folk tales collected in the first half of the twentieth century around the Ozarks by Vance Randolph. (NSFW language)

From the introduction about the wonderfully dirty language within (note his count of dirty words is very, very low to the modern mind): "There are, in modern American English, some twenty-five words which refer to the excretory and sexual functions. Tolerated in common speech, these terms are considered offensive in print. About twenty of them are taboo to the extent that they do not appear in ordinary dictionaries.... Many folktales ... depend [on these words] for effect. Translate a vernacular legend into the language of the schools, and it is no longer a folktale. An honest folklorist cannot substitute feces for shit, or write copulate when his informant says fuck, diddle, roger, or tread. Why should one employ such a noun as penis, if the narrator prefers pecker, horn, jemson or tallywhacker. Many of these stories are innocent, even childish, but they do contain vulgar terms like cunt and twitchet . . . it is impossible to present a well-rounded picture of Ozark folklore without some obscene items."

By: Bookhouse

Bookhouse — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 19:06:23 -0800

My own copy came from the estate of my grandfather, who also taught me the best phrase in the universe, "luckier than a two-peckered preacher."

By: Poolio

Poolio — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 19:14:17 -0800

Don't eat the yellow snow

By: papakwanz

papakwanz — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 19:17:02 -0800

Why do men piss in the snow standing up? It's disgusting. I like to put my naked ass right in the cold and let my urine warm create a lovely yellow pool of warmth.

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 19:21:15 -0800

Anybody could see he didn't know enough to pour piss out of a boot, with directions printed on the heel. Superb.

By: Maias

Maias — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 19:22:35 -0800

what is a twichet?

By: Bookhouse

Bookhouse — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 19:24:10 -0800

what is a twichet? A vagina.

By: escabeche

escabeche — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 19:27:23 -0800

This is great, Bookhouse, thanks.

By: pombe

pombe — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 19:51:14 -0800

My grandmother bought me a copy of this book when I was 10 or so. I don't think she had any idea of what was in it.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 20:03:38 -0800

This is great. Thanks, Bookhouse.

By: selfnoise

selfnoise — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 20:15:58 -0800

I bought this in a used bookstore earlier this year, thinking it would be a good gift for my Donald Harington-loving wife. It is indeed pretty awesome.

By: Sailormom

Sailormom — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 20:18:25 -0800

I have a copy of this packed away somewhere. I had forgotten about it. Thanks for the post. I think I'll dig through some boxes in the morning.

By: Pater Aletheias

Pater Aletheias — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 21:00:47 -0800

My sweet Arkansas-raised grandmother also had a copy of this book. I started reading it as a boy of about 9 or 10 during one of my summer visits and was shocked that such a dirty book could be on her shelf. But I sure learned a lot.

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 21:13:38 -0800

Speaking of colorful language, years back, I lived with a woman who had a copy of a book called Texas Crude from which I gleaned such gems as "Son, looks like you shit and fell back in it," (made a tragic error) and "It's hotter'n two rats fucking in a wool sock!" (A real head-turner up north when folks ask about the Texas summers.) I really wish I could afford a used copy of that book, sometimes.

By: bayliss

bayliss — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 21:39:13 -0800

God, I miss Missouri.

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 21:55:23 -0800

All right, somebody explain the last jokes to me. Use small words.

By: Meatbomb

Meatbomb — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 01:10:52 -0800

I read this as a wee lad,in the 80s. Thanks for the hillbilly memories.

By: Señor Pantalones

Señor Pantalones — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 07:00:36 -0800

+1 read this when i was far too young to be reading things like this :)

By: graventy

graventy — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 08:33:17 -0800

After just reading Canterbury Tales, this is pretty awesome. Everyone likes a good dirty story.

By: drhydro

drhydro — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 08:54:41 -0800

Grew up in NW Arkansas. It was my good fortune, during my undergrad days at the U of A in Fayetteville, to meet Vance Randolph- during the Great Folk Scare of the early 60's. An amazing man.

By: Nelson

Nelson — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 09:24:46 -0800

I just ordered a copy from Amazon. $3, $4 shipping. Is it common for people to joke that preachers screw all the women? Most of the tropes in the excerpts posted seem familiar to me, except that one.

By: OverlappingElvis

OverlappingElvis — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 10:11:54 -0800

That's awesome. And here I thought nobody talked dirty until the 1960s, or something.