![]() "Snuffy, when I was growing up in New Jersey in the 1950s I remember (I wrote that near the end of this comment that I wrote in a Mudcat folk music discussion thread that I started in May 2005 entitled " I'm Rubber. In the 1950s when I heard the rhyming saying "See you later, alligator" and its usual response "Afterwhile crocodile" iad when I used those sayings then and up until fairly recently, I thought that "alligator" and "the crocodile" just referred to the animals with those names. I used italics to highlight these referents. And I wouldn't be surprised to learn that African American teenagers help popularize those sayings in the United States and elsewhere. To be even more specific, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that those sayings came from the 1950s or earlier African American Jazz culture. Instead of the position that "American teenagers" came up with the srhyming sayings "See you later alligator" and "Afterwhile, crocodile", my position is that African Americans were the creators of those sayings. (I ask this question from the standpoint of 2021, knowing that in the early 1950s White people were almost always considered the default population for any good historic events or any positive creations or inventions.) If indeed these colloquial rhyming sayings did originate with American teenagers, which population/s of American teenagers were those columnist referring to? More widely in African-American society, peaking in the 1940s.". Parlance of hip) is an African-American Vernacular English slang thatĭeveloped in Harlem, where "jive" (jazz) was played and was adopted " Jive talk, Harlem jive or simply Jive (also known as theĪrgot of jazz, jazz jargon, vernacular of the jazz world, slang of jazz, and Notice the use of the word "jive" in that 1952 article. The words in italics and the words in bold font were given that way in that article. And of course there’s the additional “pidgin” and Hawaiian words to dress it up.īesides the everyday “slang,” many high school students use expressions such as “toodle-oo tofu,” “so long, dai-kong,” or “ see you later, alligator.” " Lots of the Hawaii-style slang can be credited to or blamed on the Mainland. ![]() Pascal Tréguer indicates that " The earliest instance of see you later, alligator and its expected response afterwhile crocodile that I have found was from T eenagers’ Slang Expressions Are Explained by Columnists, by “Jackie and Jane, Star-Bulletin Teen Columnists”, published in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin (Honolulu, Hawaii) of 1st May 1952: In Part II of this pancocojams series, I quoted Pascal Tréguer's 2020 article ‘See You Later Alligator Originated In U.S. These comments are presented as a series of thoughts and article excerpts that are separated by asterisks. SOME PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S COMMENTS (WITH SOME ONLINE EXCERPTS) Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. The content of this post is presented for cultural and linguistic purposes. Teenagers' Slang" by Pascal Tréguer and an excerpt of a 2012 National Public Radio (NPR) transcript of a "Fresh Air" segment about Bobby Charles, the composer of the song "See You Later, Alligator". Part II presents an excerpt of the 2020 article ‘See You Later Alligator ' Originated In U.S. Information about Bobby Charles and information about Bill Hailey & The Comets are included in Part I along with the lyrics for the song "See You Later Alligator".Ĭlick for Part II of this pancocojams series. The first example is a sound file by Bobby Charles, that song's composer and the second is a YouTube video of Bill Hailey & The Comets performing the most popular cover recording of that song. Part I showcases two YouTube examples of this song. Part III of this pancocojams series includes my editorial comments and some article excerpts that I believe corroborate my position that the sayings "See you later, alligator", and "Afterwhile, crocodile" originated from and were first popularized by Black Americans.Ĭlick for Part I of this pancocojams series. ![]() alligator and its usual response "After while, crocodile". This is Part III of a three part pancocojams series on the popular catchphrases "See You Later.
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