Ronly Bonly Jones lives!
Dan Drake
urban this time--
The last page of the front section of the S F Chronicle today, 2000-07-31,
has a story on the legal problems of the former mayor of East Palo Alto,
one R. B. Jones.
What memories that name brings back.
Nearly everybody who served in the US Army knew R B Jones personally, as
it seemed to me from hearing the stories. Most of them were in his
platoon. Seems he was a Southern boy, and didn't have an actual first
name, but just the initials. (Does this really happen, by the way?) To
keep the record straight, just as they did when my brother was in ROTC
(compulsory!) as "Drake, Mark NMI" to show he had No Middle Initial, the
Army listed Jones as "Jones, R(only) B(only); so for the rest of his life
he was Ronly Bonly Jones.
And now he turns up in real life.
Is the Ronly-Bonly story (which got into Reader's Disgust, as I recall)
still current?
Did he ever know Needledick the Bug-f*cker or work for the guy who was
selling the sardines?
--
Dan Drake
d...@dandrake.com
http://www.dandrake.com/index.html
wolf
day one. Now, I'm fairly certain that this was in the
"Readers Digest" some years back. Probably under the
"Humor in Uniform" section. If any of you gentle readers
would know how to research it, it would be a great chance
to go right to the mother lode of UL's. This could go all
the way back to the very early sixties.
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Ralph Jones
> [snip]
> (compulsory!) as "Drake, Mark NMI" to show he had No Middle Initial, the
> Army listed Jones as "Jones, R(only) B(only); so for the rest of his life
> he was Ronly Bonly Jones.
When I was in the Air Force, that name would have been written as "Jones,
R(IO) B(IO)", with the IO indicating Initial Only. (Yes, it does happen,
especially in the South. For that matter, I once knew three brothers named
Jim, James and Jimmy.)
I did see a version of the story in which it was interpreted as Rio Bio Jones.
rj
spo...@best.com
> Dan, this story is in every military branch going back to day one. Now,
> I'm fairly certain that this was in the "Readers Digest" some years
> back.
It was indeed. What I've so far found out about it is detailed at
http://www.snopes.com/spoons/fracture/names.htm (The part you'll want
is down near the bottom of the page.)
Barbara "my one and ronly" Mikkelson
--
Barbara Mikkelson | Well, it wouldn't be folklore if I had
spo...@best.com | details. - Charles Copeland
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Urban legends and more --> http://www.snopes.com
Jerry Bauer
Dan Drake <d...@dandrake.com> wrote:
>Maybe not stricly urban folklore, but it is folklore, and the setting is
>urban this time--
>
>The last page of the front section of the S F Chronicle today, 2000-07-31,
>has a story on the legal problems of the former mayor of East Palo Alto,
>one R. B. Jones.
>
Whether he was the prototype or not, he was certainly R. B. Jones.
The tale seems to have firmly latched upon exactly those two letters
and the surname, even though the tale could be altered or embellished
by using other combinations. Names like "J. J. Jones" or "L. L. Mann"
could be pressed into service, should the reteller wish to expand on
the theme. However, it seems that never happens with this tale. It's
always "Ronly Bonly Jones".
Jerry "Greg Shirewold" Bauer
wolf
what makes UL's so fascinating.
Gurn Blanston
Just wondering - is it proper to include the period after the initial, if the
initial doesn't actually stand for a name?
Another thing - wasn't B J Hunnicut on the TV show MASH such a character? I seem
to remember an episode where it was determined that his name was B J, that the
initials didn't stand for anything. (His parents' names were Bea and Jay)
--
~Peace
Gurn Blanston
______________________________
Mike Sphar
write the following? Read the book:
>The tale seems to have firmly latched upon exactly those two letters
>and the surname, even though the tale could be altered or embellished
>by using other combinations. Names like "J. J. Jones" or "L. L. Mann"
>could be pressed into service, should the reteller wish to expand on
>the theme. However, it seems that never happens with this tale. It's
>always "Ronly Bonly Jones".
A comedian named Henry Cho[1] used to do a bit about a "friend of his"
named "JB Stewart" who ended up with "Jonly Bonly Stuart".
[1] Often remembered for being "an asian with a southern accent". He is of
Korean descent but was born in Tennessee.
--
Mike Sphar http://www.dogfacedboy.org/
This is really a religious pilgrimage for me,
a religious pilgrimage with a lot of buttkicking.
-- Ben, "Full Throttle"
R H Draney
>
> Just wondering - is it proper to include the period after the initial, if the
> initial doesn't actually stand for a name?
Ah, the "Harry S Truman" theory!...
Speaking as one whose initials *do* stand for something, and who
nonetheless prefers not to punctuate them, I'd have to say that "proper"
is a matter of personal preference...in my case it's in deference to the
US Postal Service, which prefers that all mailing addresses contain no
punctuation (save the hyphen in the ZIP+4) and only capital letters (the
proper USPS rendering of one place is BALLS FERRY...I fudge on the
upper-case restriction by printing mailing labels using the "small caps"
option)....r
--
"Tell Katie Couric she can take her TV camera and stick it up....
she did?...when?...hmmm, must have been sweeps."
wolf
for the movie "The Ballad of Cable Hogue". One of the stars
is named L. Q. Jones. Periods definitely required. If any
of you know of L. Q. Jones, you've watched too many movies!
Stebain
Mike Sphar wrote:
>
>
> A comedian named Henry Cho[1] used to do a bit about a "friend of his"
> named "JB Stewart" who ended up with "Jonly Bonly Stuart".
>
> [1] Often remembered for being "an asian with a southern accent". He is of
> Korean descent[2] but was born in Tennessee.
>
[2][3] leading to his big joke: "They see me walk into the class and
they
think 'Damn, there goes the grade curve.'"
[3] also something about his grandfather saying 'You no have two
quarter'
was quite funny, but I don't recall the non-punchline parts.
Marc M Reeve
>Gurn, I'll give you a "ferinstance". Go to eonline and look
>for the movie "The Ballad of Cable Hogue". One of the stars
>is named L. Q. Jones. Periods definitely required. If any
>of you know of L. Q. Jones, you've watched too many movies!
>
of L. Q. Jones. Last film I saw him in was "The Mask of Zorro."
He has one of those faces that makes him perfect for playing the
grizzled old prospector/cowboy/desert strandee or whatever. (As
opposed to Richard Farnsworth, who really *was* a grizzled old
cowboy before he began his acting career.)
Marc "but what's Jones' real name?" Reeve
--
Marc Reeve cmr...@SPAM.ucsc.edu
Don't mistake my opinions for those of the University of California.
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