What does this mean?
Rich T
the nerve to leave a matchbox on my clothes...". What does this mean? Is it
oldtime slang?
Thanks!
Rich
Gordon Golding
would hold my clothes". It's an old blues line, found in countless songs (Sam
Cook uses it in Somebody Have Mercy: "I'm just sittin' here wonderin' if a
matchbox'd hold my clothes"). She means the guy is kicking her out and asking
her to take her meager belongings with her.
Hope this helped
Gordon
midtown neon
a nickel's worth, usually.
neon, m.
Rich T
By a nickle I assume you mean 5 dollars, which (I think) would have been a
lot for a quarter oz. of (I.assume you mean) pot back when. But it's cheap
(I hear) by today's standards.Whew!
Rich
midtown neon wrote in message
<29850-37...@newsd-141.iap.bryant.webtv.net>...
Howard Peirce
> a matchbox was what later was called a lid -- or about a quarter ounce.
>
> a nickel's worth, usually.
You realize "lid" is now "old-time" slang, too. At least, I got blank
stares from the nest of young vipers I occasionally hang out with when I
used the term. (Come to think of, I get blank stares from them a lot....)
HP
Tom Walls
>
>I think Gordon had the right answer but yours is interesting none the less.
>By a nickle I assume you mean 5 dollars, which (I think) would have been a
>lot for a quarter oz. of (I.assume you mean) pot back when. But it's cheap
>(I hear) by today's standards.Whew!
>Rich
>midtown neon wrote in message
><29850-37...@newsd-141.iap.bryant.webtv.net>...
>
>a nickel's worth, usually.
>
>
>
>
A matchbox(often literally a matchbox) was a nickle($5) back in my day(the
60's). A lid(an ounce) was $10. All hearsay, of course.
--
Tom Walls(the guy at the Temple of Zeus)
http://www.arts.cornell.edu/zeus/
Howard Peirce
> A matchbox(often literally a matchbox) was a nickle($5) back in my day(the
> 60's). A lid(an ounce) was $10. All hearsay, of course.
This is fun. It's like those obsolete English measuring systems: rails,
hogsheads, pecks, etc. So if a matchbox is a quarter ounce (or an half ounce,
if it cost half as much), and a lid is an ounce, how much is a key? Surely not
a kilo!?
HP
--too young for the sixties; trying to make sense of old Firesign Theatre gags.
Nou Dadoun
Howard Peirce <howard...@sdrc.com> wrote:
>Tom Walls wrote:
>
>> A matchbox(often literally a matchbox) was a nickle($5) back in my day(the
>> 60's). A lid(an ounce) was $10. All hearsay, of course.
>
>This is fun. It's like those obsolete English measuring systems: rails,
>hogsheads, pecks, etc. So if a matchbox is a quarter ounce (or an half ounce,
>if it cost half as much), and a lid is an ounce, how much is a key? Surely not
>a kilo!?
The very same, now you'll have to split it with the sound effects man!
(I've got some Yucatan Blue I can let you have...)
>
>HP
>-too young for the sixties; trying to make sense of old Firesign Theatre gags.
"...waiting for godot, or someone like him!"
----------------------------------------------------------------------> Nou
====
Nou Dadoun | dad...@cs.ubc.ca | Black Swan Records,
Dpt. of Computer Science,|*******************| 3209 W. Broadway,
Langara College, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1W5 | Vancouver, BC, V6K 2H5
(604) 323-5822 | http://www.blackswan.bc.ca | (604) 734-2828 / 734-2899 [FAX]
*Current Auctions include:
Benny Goodman 16LP Box - Comp. RCA/BB
Bill Duke
<howard...@sdrc.com> noted that:
: Tom Walls wrote:
:
: > A matchbox (often literally a matchbox) was a nickel ($5) back in my day
: > (the 60's). A lid (an ounce) was $10. All hearsay, of course.
:
:
: This is fun. It's like those obsolete English measuring systems: rails,
: hogsheads, pecks, etc.
Hey. Watch that "peck" stuff. We still have a farm in upper Michigan,
some of it given over to an orchard. Barrels, bushels, and pecks are
still customary measures up here. Rods and acres, too.
Not too sure about hogsheads.
: HP
: --too young for the sixties; trying to make sense of old Firesign Theatre gags.
Bill
(aka "Porgy TireBiter")
midtown neon
I was talkin' once-upon-a-time, way back in 1952.
Honestly, I couldn't see any connection to "matchbox on her clothes".
"a matchbox for my clothes" would be understandable and an ironic
commentary on how little she had.
neon, m.
Mike West
Rich T <tin...@email.msn.com> wrote in message
news:uBD1KKdC$GA.323@cpmsnbbsa02...
> An old Billie Holiday song includes a line that sounds to me like
".....had
> the nerve to leave a matchbox on my clothes...". What does this mean? Is
it
> oldtime slang?
> Thanks!
> Rich
>
>
The way I've always pictured it, the matchbox was alight. In other words, he
burned her personal belongings.
Mike
Mike West
Tom Walls <tw...@cornell.edu> wrote in message
news:7sr5l9$9nv$1...@news01.cit.cornell.edu...
> In article <uXHF2FeC$GA.194@cpmsnbbsa02>, tin...@email.msn.com says...
> >
> >I think Gordon had the right answer but yours is interesting none the
less.
> >By a nickle I assume you mean 5 dollars, which (I think) would have been
a
> >lot for a quarter oz. of (I.assume you mean) pot back when. But it's
cheap
> >(I hear) by today's standards.Whew!
> >Rich
> >midtown neon wrote in message
> ><29850-37...@newsd-141.iap.bryant.webtv.net>...
> >a matchbox was what later was called a lid -- or about a quarter ounce.
> >
> >a nickel's worth, usually.
> >
> >neon, m.
> >
> >
> >
>
>
I found this:
Matchbox - 1/4 ounce of marijuana or 6 marijuana cigarettes
here:
http://www.addictions.com/slang.htm#M
Unfortunately there isn't (AFAIK) a good dictionary of American slang
online, so I will have to continue this search another time. Given the
context of the usage by Billie and by Sam Cooke, I can't help wondering if
"matchbox" referred to a small, cheap suitcase. But that's just a wild
guess.
Mike
Dennis J. Kosterman
wrote:
>The full line (as I recall) is "he had the nerve to ask me if a matchbox
>would hold my clothes". It's an old blues line, found in countless songs (Sam
>Cook uses it in Somebody Have Mercy: "I'm just sittin' here wonderin' if a
>matchbox'd hold my clothes"). She means the guy is kicking her out and asking
>her to take her meager belongings with her.
The line in question is from the song "Billie's Blues (I Love My Man)"
(written by Billie herself). I have 6 different recorded versions of
this song, and in all of them, she's clearly singing "(He) had the
nerve to lay a matchbox on my clothes".
However, in context, the meaning is clearly (at least it's clear to
me) the one given above by Gordon. The full verse (or chorus, or
bridge, or whatever it is -- forgive my ignorance of song form) is:
(My man) wouldn't (didn't) give me no breakfast,
Wouldn't (didn't) give me no dinner,
Squawked about my supper, then he put me outdoors;
Had the nerve to lay a matchbox on my clothes;
I didn't have so many, but I had a long long way(s) to go.
As Gordon says, the last two lines are a blues cliche, usually phrased
in the form given by him. My guess is that the meaning is the same: by
"laying a matchbox" on her clothes, her man is insulting her by
suggesting that a matchbox could hold them all (although, in those
days, when it was customary for the man to support the woman, this
would be insulting himself more than her). This song was more or less
made up on the spot in the studio, and she probably didn't give a lot
of thought to the lyrics. After all, she's famous for her singing, not
her writing...
Dennis J. Kosterman
den...@tds.net
P.S. Howard: Ever call them "vipers" to their face? I'll bet that gets
a blank look, too! :-)
Gordon Golding
then divided into ounces (supposedly 32 grams each, but hey, there's always a
little wastage). Each ounce was sold in a zip-lock bag called ... a "nickle bag"
or "a lid", which sold for $10. So clearly, the words hung around, but their
meaning shifted with the times (and inflation).
Don't tell my children I know any of this, which I learned for a school science
project.
Gordon
Howard Peirce wrote:
> Tom Walls wrote:
>
> > A matchbox(often literally a matchbox) was a nickle($5) back in my day(the
> > 60's). A lid(an ounce) was $10. All hearsay, of course.
>
> This is fun. It's like those obsolete English measuring systems: rails,
> hogsheads, pecks, etc. So if a matchbox is a quarter ounce (or an half ounce,
> if it cost half as much), and a lid is an ounce, how much is a key? Surely not
> a kilo!?
>
Gordon Golding
memory. I also think Mike West might be right about the suitcase.
Do you have the V-disc version of the song with Louis Armstrong? One of my
favorites
Gordon Golding
midtown neon wrote:
Again, this is just conjecture, but the idea is that the person has so
few belongings that he or she could get them all in something as small
as a matchbox. Billie, grande dame that she was, felt it was nervy even
to suggest such a possibility. Also, Cooke's other line is "I don't have
so many matches (i.e. belongings) , but I have so far to go (i.e. gotta
travel light).
Of course, I could be just over-intellectualizing or making this up.
Maybe its just a cool line.
Gordon
Tom Walls
>
>Tom Walls wrote:
>
>> A matchbox(often literally a matchbox) was a nickle($5) back in my day(the
>> 60's). A lid(an ounce) was $10. All hearsay, of course.
>
>This is fun. It's like those obsolete English measuring systems: rails,
>hogsheads, pecks, etc. So if a matchbox is a quarter ounce (or an half ounce,
>if it cost half as much), and a lid is an ounce, how much is a key? Surely
not
>a kilo!?
It is indeed a kilo -- 2.2 lbs.
--
Tom Walls
the guy at the Temple of Zeus
http://www.arts.cornell.edu/zeus/
Jack Woker
>
> As I recall -- or did I see it on Mod Squad? -- a key was indeed a kilo, which was
> then divided into ounces (supposedly 32 grams each, but hey, there's always a
> little wastage). Each ounce was sold in a zip-lock bag called ... a "nickle bag"
> or "a lid", which sold for $10. So clearly, the words hung around, but their
> meaning shifted with the times (and inflation).
In my college days, starting around 1964, a nickel bag was not an ounce,
but a smaller portion. The first ones I saw were in little manila
envelopes, and we had to go down to the "other side of the tracks" to
buy one. Although we could never afford an ounce at the time, being
poor college students, an ounce was around $25 or $30. A couple of
years later, as these activities became more prevalent among college
students, the prices began to come down, and an average ounce sold for
about $15-20, and was sold in a plastic sandwich bag. On the west
coast, the standard unit of measurement was a "lid", which we understood
to be comparable to an ounce.
This is all what I observed from a distance, of course. :-)
jack
Jack Woker
> In my college days, starting around 1964, a nickel bag was not an ounce,
> but a smaller portion.
I neglected to mention that it was called a "nickel bag" because it cost
a nickel (five dollars). Dime bags were also available.
jack
midtown neon
neon, m.
Jack Woker
>
> "lid" from lid of what? coffee cans?
You know, I'm sure somebody must have explained the term to me at the
time, but I'll be damned if I can remember now. :-)
jack
Nordwell, Kurt (BNR:BNRTP:3I38)
It used to represent a quantity of marijuana, but I have no idea how much.
Peace,
Kurt
George I Ziskind
Finally, a misspent youth pays off! We're talking about the lid of a Prince
Albert can of pipe tobacco.
GZ
midtown neon
Finally, we're making some sense around here!
Hunter College, eh? Uptown!
Cheers, Zis .. cheers.
product quality PS: prices depended on factors. combed or seeded?
Mexican or NJ? ratio of product to oregano. ha-ha.
oh, and a note to the younger generations.
we didn't have no zip-loc baggies. they hadn't been invented yet. the
50's were not the 60's. and ... don't buzz the fuzz.
neon, m.
Jack Woker
> >
> > You know, I'm sure somebody must have explained the term to me at the
> > time, but I'll be damned if I can remember now. :-)
Don't you just love it when somebody comes in and explains to us what we
are talking about? :-)
For the second time this week, I am reminded of the Bob & Ray "Kimodo
Dragon" bit.
jack
Skip Elliott Bowman
>
> On Fri, 1 Oct 1999 10:32:12 +0200, "Ulf Åbjörnsson"
> <aabj...@algonet.se> wrote:
>
> >To the best of my knowledge "a nickle" was (is?) 5 cents, not dollars.
> >
> >Ulf in Svedala
> >
>
> Slang is such a pup. Normally you'd be right Ulf but when referring
> to drugs, a nickle is 5 dollars and a dime 10. Just shorthand I
> guess.
Ulf, some members of the drug culture use slang. They're not the only
ones, by a long shot. We say a dime to mean ten dollars, and a buck or
C-note for one hundred dollars (C being the Roman numeral for hundred).
We also say "he dropped a dime" to mean he spent ten years doing
something.
Howzabout giving us an example of Swedish slang?
Skip "De Pan Man"
to reply, remove the Ys
last dive The Ivory, Sombrero Reef, Marathon FL Sept 99
next dive Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles November 99
diskussionsgruppsmeddelandet:uXHF2FeC$GA.194@cpmsnbbsa02...
Ulf Åbjörnsson
Ulf in Svedala
Rich T <tin...@email.msn.com> skrev i
diskussionsgruppsmeddelandet:uXHF2FeC$GA.194@cpmsnbbsa02...
> I think Gordon had the right answer but yours is interesting none the
less.
Clark Monroe
<aabj...@algonet.se> wrote:
>To the best of my knowledge "a nickle" was (is?) 5 cents, not dollars.
>
>Ulf in Svedala
>
Slang is such a pup. Normally you'd be right Ulf but when referring
to drugs, a nickle is 5 dollars and a dime 10. Just shorthand I
guess.
BOBVL
>From: "Ulf Åbjörnsson" aabj...@algonet.se
>Date: Fri, 01 October 1999 04:32 AM EDT
>Message-id: <7t1rj8$4di$1...@cubacola.tninet.se>
>
>To the best of my knowledge "a nickle" was (is?) 5 cents, not dollar
=========================
Ulf:
The metal as well as the coin are both spelled NICKEL
The word nickle does not exist in English..
bobvl
Ulf Åbjörnsson
the word?!
Ulf in Svedala
BOBVL <bo...@aol.com> skrev i
diskussionsgruppsmeddelandet:19991001072357...@ng-fw1.aol.com...
> >Subject: SV: What does this mean?
> >From: "Ulf Åbjörnsson" aabj...@algonet.se
> >Date: Fri, 01 October 1999 04:32 AM EDT
> >Message-id: <7t1rj8$4di$1...@cubacola.tninet.se>
Bill Duke
: Ulf:
: The metal as well as the coin are both spelled NICKEL
: The word nickle does not exist in English.
And I thought I was the master of pointless pedantry.
Bill
BOBVL
>From: Bill Duke bd...@columbus.rr.com
>Date: Fri, 01 October 1999 01:16 PM EDT
>Message-id: <Huz0N7tZ9VqeM8...@4ax.com>
You are!!! No one has dethroned you yet.....
bob
Marc Sabatella
>when referring
>to drugs, a nickle is 5 dollars and a dime 10. Just shorthand I
>guess.
For what it's worth, some musicians use this type of slang when
describing pay for a gig - "it pays seventy-five cents", meaning $75, or
"a buck and a quarter", meaning $125, etc.
--------------
Marc Sabatella
ma...@outsideshore.com
Check out my latest CD, "Second Course"
Available on Cadence Jazz Records
Also "A Jazz Improvisation Primer", Scores, & More:
http://www.outsideshore.com/
Rich T
that in your hat and smoke it :-)
Rich
ps: these threads DO tend to stray, don't they? But I've never had a thread
I've started run so long. >sniff< I'm so proud!
BOBVL wrote in message <19991001072357...@ng-fw1.aol.com>...
>>Subject: SV: What does this mean?
>>From: "Ulf Åbjörnsson" aabj...@algonet.se
>>Date: Fri, 01 October 1999 04:32 AM EDT
>>Message-id: <7t1rj8$4di$1...@cubacola.tninet.se>
>>
>
>=========================
>The metal as well as the coin are both spelled NICKEL
>
>bobvl
Gary Milliken
>Unfortunately there isn't (AFAIK) a good dictionary of American slang
>online, so I will have to continue this search another time. Given the
>context of the usage by Billie and by Sam Cooke, I can't help wondering if
>"matchbox" referred to a small, cheap suitcase. But that's just a wild
>guess.
Not that this will help too much, especially since I can't recall the
exact words used, but rockabilly pioneer Carl Perkins used the phrase
too -- in fact, I think the song may have been "Matchbox" which was
covered by the Beatles.
GM
Hal Vickery
<bd...@columbus.rr.com> wrote:
> On or about 01 Oct 1999 11:23:57 GMT, bo...@aol.com (BOBVL) noted that:
>
> : Ulf:
> : The metal as well as the coin are both spelled NICKEL
> : The word nickle does not exist in English.
>
> And I thought I was the master of pointless pedantry.
As a chemistry teacher who annually gives a quiz on names and symbols of
common elements, I do not find it pointless. As I tell my kids, "How would
you like it if somebody misspelled your name? Well Nickel feels the same
way."
FWIW, years ago when my 20-year-old son was one-tenth his present age, I
saw the word spelled "nickle" on Sesame Street in one of their animated
pieces about the letter N.
No, I won't even come close to "aluminum" vs. "aluminium."
nsmf
Hal Vickery
(Marc Sabatella) wrote:
> In article <4H70NycJxslUZB...@4ax.com>, c...@monad.net wrote:
>
> >when referring
> >to drugs, a nickle is 5 dollars and a dime 10. Just shorthand I
> >guess.
>
> For what it's worth, some musicians use this type of slang when
> describing pay for a gig - "it pays seventy-five cents", meaning $75, or
> "a buck and a quarter", meaning $125, etc.
And if a baseball player were batting .125 he'd be batting "a buck
twenty-five" or "a buck and a quarter."
nsmf
midtown neon
there was the noted collector of stange and weird facts and such --
Robert Ripley -- and he had a radio program, AM, of course, based on his
newspaper feature -- and it was called "Believe it or Not!"
You are a very patient audience and if you bear with me but a bit more,
I'm old and slow, you know, I'll get to the point.
And one night, as I remember it, he played samples from two phono
records, 78 rpm's, I imagine, and the first sing-song one sang:
"I am worth five cents, five cents, five cents".
and the other:
"I am worth two bits, two bits, two bits".
and on to no release.
neon, m.
Jonathan Byrd
>
> For what it's worth, some musicians use this type of slang when
> describing pay for a gig - "it pays seventy-five cents", meaning $75, or
> "a buck and a quarter", meaning $125, etc.
Damn! All this time I been getting shorted!
--
Jonathan Byrd Idaho State University
j...@isu.edu Pocatello, Idaho, USA
Ulf Åbjörnsson
Ulf in Svedala
Hal Vickery <hvic...@svs.com> skrev i
diskussionsgruppsmeddelandet:hvickery-ya0240800...@nntp.ce.me
diaone.net...
> In article <Huz0N7tZ9VqeM8...@4ax.com>, Bill Duke
> <bd...@columbus.rr.com> wrote:
>
> > On or about 01 Oct 1999 11:23:57 GMT, bo...@aol.com (BOBVL) noted that:
> >
> > : Ulf:
> > : The metal as well as the coin are both spelled NICKEL
> > : The word nickle does not exist in English.
> nsmf
Steve Bosarge
Steve Bosarge
Gary Milliken wrote >>Unfortunately there isn't (AFAIK) a good dictionary of American slang
Jack Woker
> something.
Maybe it's different in your part of the country, Skip, but I've always
defined "dropping a dime" as ratting on somebody - that is, dropping a
dime into a telephone to call the police.
If you spent ten years in prison, then you "did a dime", or at least
that's how I understand it.
jack
Mike West
Steve Bosarge <new-c...@prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:7t3da2$2mu2$1...@newssvr04-int.news.prodigy.com...
Hi Steve,
Actually, that's my quote just above, not Gary Milliken's.
By George, I think you've got it. Billie's use of the phrase is absolutely
consistent with what you've just described: "Had the nerve to lay matchbox
on my clothes."
I was having trouble convincing myself that it was just a clumsy paraphrase
of the "matchbox would hold my clothes" line from the Blind Lemon Jefferson
blues that someone else spotted.
I think your recollection of this type of 'signifyin' makes it all perfectly
clear what Billie was singing about.
Many thanks.
Mike
(Melbourne)
104#s
hvic...@svs.com (Hal Vickery) wrote:
> In article <HN6J3.757$Wy2....@news.uswest.net>,
> ma...@outsideshore.com
> (Marc Sabatella) wrote:
> > In article <4H70NycJxslUZB...@4ax.com>, c...@monad.net
> wrote:
> >
> > >when referring
> > >to drugs, a nickle is 5 dollars and a dime 10. Just shorthand I
> > >guess.
> >
> > describing pay for a gig - "it pays seventy-five cents", meaning
> $75, or
> > "a buck and a quarter", meaning $125, etc.
> nsmf
Dear Hal et al.:
I used to be a Chem Major....went into nurisng and now birth
babies....when I'm not singing.
Here's one for you.....
When a mom is ready to deliver we say she's showing a dime or a nickel
or a quarter or a fifty cent piece just before the baby crowns......
Oh, honey baby, (Taj Mahal) you better go get the doctor out from in
front of the Niners game or you'll be shaking hands with the little
tyke.
Hows that Rich T for keeping your thread going?
vox delivery service with a song
* Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free!
Rich T
I think you may well have solved the mystery. A sort of sign of contempt.
Sort of like giving someone a quarter (so they can call someone who gives a
f...uh....cares.)
Rich
Rich T
(unfortunately starring Pauly Shore as Rich T)
Rich
104#s wrote in message <11f733ec...@usw-ex0102-013.remarq.com>...
Marc Sabatella
>And if a baseball player were batting .125 he'd be batting "a buck
>twenty-five" or "a buck and a quarter."
Note that this usage is usually intended as an insult. It is almost
always reserved for people with batting averages in the .100-.200 range
(which is pretty terrible). You'd never say of Tony Gwynn that he was
batting "three dollars and seventy-five cents". I suppose the musicians
I know who use the slang this way would also avoid if we ever
encountered a gig that paid $375, but I was hoping to at least keep this
pointless diversion grounded in reality.
Hal Vickery
(Marc Sabatella) wrote:
> In article <hvickery-ya0240800...@nntp.ce.mediaone.net>,
hvic...@svs.com (Hal Vickery) wrote:
>
> >And if a baseball player were batting .125 he'd be batting "a buck
> >twenty-five" or "a buck and a quarter."
>
> Note that this usage is usually intended as an insult. It is almost
> always reserved for people with batting averages in the .100-.200 range
> (which is pretty terrible). You'd never say of Tony Gwynn that he was
> batting "three dollars and seventy-five cents". I suppose the musicians
> I know who use the slang this way would also avoid if we ever
> encountered a gig that paid $375, but I was hoping to at least keep this
> pointless diversion grounded in reality.
Of course if Gwynn is hitting .375, we say he's hitting "three
seventy-five" and if we pay $3.75 for a beer at the ball park (or at the
bar listening to somebody's gig), we say we're paying "three seventy-five."
nsmf
Gordon Golding
heard Ike Turner sing (in a song called "Matchbox"):
"I've got my clothes in a matchbox, I'm gonna to forget about you"
So maybe it does refer to a small suitcase.
Gordon
104#s
Let's see....
I'm not that old, but were you going somewhere with this like ?
With Plenty of Money and You (1936) Al Dubin/Harry Warren
One of those money songs form the dark days
In spite of the worries that money brings
Just a little filthy lucre does a lot o things
And on to say that I've no use for dough
It's the root of all evil of strife and uphevel, baby
Life would be sunny with plenty of money (of which I have none) and you!