Jackanapes again...

[davemarc]

> From: MASCARO at humnet.ucla.edu
> 
> Don't know if Steely's out there lurking (heyho--you out there Steel one?

>  Greetings from the list that misses you, even when they call you
jackanapes),
>  but I am glad to see that Steely's accusing me of a racial slur in using
the word 
> (for I was the culprit) was in error.  Unless, of course, that Hawthorne
was
>  laying a (silly) racial slur on the Pyncheons . . .
> 
> The etymological discussion that ensued back then didn't, IMO, clear up
the
>  confusion at all.
> 
To paraphrase a post of mine that crept its way into Lineland (thanks for
the proof, Jules, and thanks to Jules and Peter for their restraint over
the past weeks!), I take exception to the assertion that the list misses
"dear old" Steelhead.  Maybe I almost half-miss him.  Naturally, I miss the
intelligent and idealistic side (say, the "head"), but I just don't miss
the bullying and treacherous side (say, the "Steel").  What I miss are the
people who unsubscribe under the heat of his flames.

Anyway, it's pretty clear to me that "jackanapes" has a significant racist
application.  But my humble Random House Dictionary (which, yes, would
classify Fidel Castro as a dictator) finds its origin in "Jakken-apes, lit.
jack (i.e. man) of the ape, nickname of William de la Pole (1396-1450),
Duke of Suffolk, whose badge was an ape's clog and chain."  Sounds
O'Neillesque to me....

davemarc