I just googled it then looked it up in a dictionary.
A 'sheeny' IS in fact a junk man, as dad told us.
The more common meaning, which I'm sure dad didn't know, is a derogatory term for Jew.
Ah well. that's not likely a rhyme we'll be passing on to the next generation anyway.
1 comment:
Dad was not always terribly sensitive to the derogatory nature of the language that he and his peers grew up with and used to describe others around them who were Not Like Us. Wops, Polaks, shyters, pickaninnies... depression-era language common in his childhood and he didn't adapt as he grew up. Propaganda taunts from childhood live long.
"Harvard" is the trainer aircraft. Harbord is a street; only reference I can find to who it's named for is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Harbord and I'm not seeing a toronto connection in his bio.
"Ditty" is a light verse. "Diddy" is the last name of a rap singer.
I have no idea why i want to correct your spelling...maybe you enjoy playing with my head, or maybe you're not especially concerned with precision in language, or maybe you don't actually mind when I send you these bits -- I don't do it to be obnoxious, only to offer you information in case you DIDN'T know, and enable you to avoid somebody who doesn't love you as much as I do correcting this stuff...or me having some argument with Simon years from now that "Diddy" is right because that's the word Daddy always used.
(Then again, *I* know what skybluepink is, and where to find the ginding yard, so, what does it matter?)
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