Rapscallion
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A recent Bluesky post by George Takei, re-skying (?) @GraniteDhuine:
— George Takei (@georgetakei.bsky.social) November 3, 2024 at 10:00 AM
As Wiktionary explains, the etymology of the base word rascal is rather tasteless:
Recorded since c.1330, as Middle English rascaile (“people of the lowest class, rabble of an army”), derived from 12th century Old French rascaille (“outcast, rabble”) (modern French racaille), perhaps from rasque (“mud, filth, scab, dregs”), from Vulgar Latin *rasicō (“to scrape”).
The step from rascal to rapscallion is relatively bland, perhaps appropriate for the "spring onion" association:
From an alteration of rascallion, a fanciful elaboration of rascal (“someone who is naughty”).
This joke made me wonder about the name of the song Green Onions, and Wikipedia explains that it was named after a cat:
According to Booker T. Jones, the composition was originally to be called "Funky Onions", but the sister of Jim Stewart thought it "sounded like a cuss word"; it was therefore renamed "Green Onions". According to Cropper, the title is not a marijuana reference; rather, the track is named after the Green Badger's cat, Green Onions, whose way of walking inspired the riff. On a broadcast of the radio program Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! on June 24, 2013, Jones was asked about the title and said, "The bass player thought it was so funky, he wanted to call it 'Funky Onions', but they thought that was too low-class, so we used 'Green Onions' instead."
That feline reference adds new flavor to a song that I've enjoyed since I was a teenager.
Back on Bluesky, one of the replies to Takei adds an ingredient to another song:
We are the champignons, my friend
— Chris Washington (@cwashington.bsky.social) November 3, 2024 at 10:02 AM
[Note: The most widely-used neologism for posting on Bluesky is "skeet". But there's some associated controversy. So I'm experimenting with sky, which after all does have the existing senses "To toss (something) upwards" and "To hit, kick, or throw a ball extremely high".]
J.W. Brewer said,
November 4, 2024 @ 7:34 am
The seemingly-bowdlerizing sister was Estelle Axton, nee Stewart (1918-2004) whose (married) surname contributed the -ax to the name of Stax Records and who was a co-owner on account of she had put up the money that allowed her younger brother Jim to realize his dream of running a recording studio. She eventually shifted away from her prior career working in a bank (before which she had been a schoolteacher) to work at the label to sort of keep an eye on her investment. She had no particular background in the music biz and was not what you'd call a hipster, but this respectable bourgeois lady turned out to have good marketing instincts and a knack for figuring out what teenagers would buy in quantity if the label released it. The account here may seem a little hagiographic https://savingplaces.org/stories/estelle-axton-woman-place-the-memphis-sound but you can read lots of memoirs of the Memphis music scene of that era without finding anyone who has a cross word to say about her.
ardj said,
November 4, 2024 @ 8:22 am
– and, of course, not to be confused with rantallion
Francisco said,
November 4, 2024 @ 8:37 am
In a scientifically more literate world the act of posting on Bluesky could be 'to Rayleigh'.
cameron said,
November 4, 2024 @ 9:55 am
it's obvious, to me at least, that the term analogous to "tweet" for use on Bluesky should be "yeet"
S. Norman said,
November 4, 2024 @ 1:01 pm
I'm surprised Booker T. shied away from 'Funky Onions' but still went for 'Fuquawi',
a joke that was cleaned up for F Troop:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akbJyYMrHz8
Mike Grubb said,
November 4, 2024 @ 5:32 pm
@ Cameron: I don't know. "Bleet" seems pretty obvious, too. But maybe that's a baaa'd idea.
Mark Meckes said,
November 4, 2024 @ 11:20 pm
Love the champignon pun. When my family was living temporarily in Toulouse, my very petite then-six-year-old daughter was dubbed "la petite championne" by her math teacher for her arithmetic prowess, and over the course of our time there the sobriquet evolved into "la petite champignonne". She was very proud of that nickname and ten years later is still amused when I bring it up again.
JPL said,
November 4, 2024 @ 11:25 pm
"That feline reference":
Yes, I'd give more credence to Steve Cropper's version of the origin story, because it has more relevant detail: the swinging organ- guitar rhythms do seem like a good accompaniment to a cat's slinky walk.
:
Stan Carey said,
November 6, 2024 @ 5:55 am
Nothing against playful neologisms, but my preference is for "post" and "repost" as the most natural, straightforward, and intelligible terms.