Funny and/or Interesting Colloquialisms

[rgcraig]

Originally Posted by Pastor Poster

I know, I was just joshing you.

Get it "joshing" you? Where in the world did the term "joshing" come from?

Same place jonesing did, I guess.

[RevDWW]

Originally Posted by Pastor Poster

Where in the world did the term "joshing" come from?

I would think it just came from you keyboard...but I could be wrong.




Bashing each other is as wrong as two boys kissing..........

[Brother Price]

Like a preacher on a full tithe!

[Neck]

Originally Posted by Pastor Poster
Where in the world did the term "joshing" come from?

Originally Posted by RevDWW

I would think it just came from you keyboard...but I could be wrong.




Bashing each other is as wrong as two boys kissing..........

I was told that it came out of the story of Jericho in the bible.

Joshua rounded the city 7 times and the people inside laughed that he was saying it would fall.

The thought being you have to be "Joshing me" Or Joshuaing me!!

Because they could not believe what he was saying...

But it came to pass.....

[Subdued]

Originally Posted by Pastor Poster

I know, I was just joshing you.

Get it "joshing" you? Where in the world did the term "joshing" come from?

And gimme a hundred of them nickel seegars.

Dear Word Detective: I have searched high and low to find the historical basis of the expression "joshing." I know the person who was involved in the coinage: Josh Tatum, who was a deaf individual. I also know it had something to do with a "racketeer's nickel," which was a liberty coin minted in 1883. The coin did not have the word "cents" on it, and so it could be gold plated and passed off as a five dollar gold piece instead of a five cent piece. All this information has not helped me to find out what the incident was that explains the derivation of the expression "I'm only joshing!" Thanks for any light you might be able to shed! -- Cher McDaniel-Thomas, via the internet.

Well, we've got good news and we've got bad news on this question. The good news is that after a bit of searching, I've discovered that Josh Tatum is credited with inventing the coin-passing trick you mention. Incidentally, somehow I doubt that the merchants Mr. Tatum defrauded regarded his ploy as merely "joshing."

Now the bad news. The story of Josh Tatum may or may not be true (and I suspect it is not). But even if it is, it cannot be the source of the verb "to josh," meaning to joke or trick, because "to josh" showed up in 1852, more than 30 years before the coin in question was even minted.
Nor can "josh" be, as is sometimes alleged, a tribute to the great 18th century American humorist Henry Wheeler Shaw, author of several books of "country humor" written under the pen name Josh Billings. Again, the timing (Shaw did not become well known until about 1860) is wrong. My best guess is that "to josh" as a verb meaning "to joke" came from "josh" as a noun meaning a "rube" or "hick," which in turn was based on the fact that "Joshua" was considered a typical rural name back in the 18th century, and thus a handy (though unfair) label for anyone likely to be taken in by a simple trick.

http://www.word-detective.com/070698.html

[Nahum]

Originally Posted by Subdued

And gimme a hundred of them nickel seegars.

Dear Word Detective: I have searched high and low to find the historical basis of the expression "joshing." I know the person who was involved in the coinage: Josh Tatum, who was a deaf individual. I also know it had something to do with a "racketeer's nickel," which was a liberty coin minted in 1883. The coin did not have the word "cents" on it, and so it could be gold plated and passed off as a five dollar gold piece instead of a five cent piece. All this information has not helped me to find out what the incident was that explains the derivation of the expression "I'm only joshing!" Thanks for any light you might be able to shed! -- Cher McDaniel-Thomas, via the internet.

Well, we've got good news and we've got bad news on this question. The good news is that after a bit of searching, I've discovered that Josh Tatum is credited with inventing the coin-passing trick you mention. Incidentally, somehow I doubt that the merchants Mr. Tatum defrauded regarded his ploy as merely "joshing."

Now the bad news. The story of Josh Tatum may or may not be true (and I suspect it is not). But even if it is, it cannot be the source of the verb "to josh," meaning to joke or trick, because "to josh" showed up in 1852, more than 30 years before the coin in question was even minted.
Nor can "josh" be, as is sometimes alleged, a tribute to the great 18th century American humorist Henry Wheeler Shaw, author of several books of "country humor" written under the pen name Josh Billings. Again, the timing (Shaw did not become well known until about 1860) is wrong. My best guess is that "to josh" as a verb meaning "to joke" came from "josh" as a noun meaning a "rube" or "hick," which in turn was based on the fact that "Joshua" was considered a typical rural name back in the 18th century, and thus a handy (though unfair) label for anyone likely to be taken in by a simple trick.

http://www.word-detective.com/070698.html

How interesting! Thanks for the info.

[Nahum]

How about "He ain't worth a plug nickel"?

[Subdued]

Originally Posted by Pastor Poster

How interesting! Thanks for the info.

You're welcome!

[BoredOutOfMyMind]

Originally Posted by Pastor Poster

I know, I was just joshing you.

Get it "joshing" you? Where in the world did the term "joshing" come from?

josh (jsh)v. joshed, josh·ing, josh·es
v.tr. To tease (someone) good-humoredly.

v.intr. To make or exchange good-humored jokes; banter. See Synonyms at banter.

n. A teasing or joking remark

[RevDWW]

Originally Posted by Pastor Poster

How about "He ain't worth a plug nickel"?

Don't take any wooden nickles..........