JUS’ TALKIN’ ’MERICAN, LIKE, Y’KNOW PART 2

I’M ENJOYING RESEARCH OF uniquely American phrases, enough so it’s stretching here into Part 2. To tighten the focus today, I even sneaked in two that are more than just American, but specifically rather more localized.     

Pass the Buck. Wikipedia recounts, “The expression is said to have originated from poker in which a marker or counter (such as a knife with a buckhorn handle during the American Frontier era) was used to indicate the person whose turn it was to deal. If the player did not wish to deal, the responsibility could be passed by the passing of the ‘buck,’ as the counter came to be called, to the next player.”

President Harry Truman famously had a sign on his desk. Image from the Truman Library.

The Holy Trinity (Cajun). As Paul Prudhomme taught us at a New Orleans AAAS meeting years ago, the Holy Trinity of Cajun cuisine is a dice of two parts onion, one part green pepper, and one part celery. This trinity goes into the roux of butter and flour once it’s properly chocolately brown. 

Image by Herb Roe from Wikipedia. 

I usually add garlic, which according to Wikipedia “is referred to as ‘adding the pope.’ ”

Don’t confuse this holy trinity with French mirepoix, two parts onion/one part carrots/one part celery. Or with Spanish sofrito, which contains onion/garlic/bell peppers/tomatoes. 

Knock on Wood. Though some sources suggest this encouragement of good fortune—or avoidance of evil—has English language origin, Wikipedia cites many examples from Bosnia to Thailand and beyond. 

Image from BestLife. 

By the way, the Brit phrase “Touch Wood ” is also title of my favorite motorsports book, Duncan Hamilton’s autobiography.

Touch Wood,  by Duncan Hamilton, Speed and Sports Publications, 1971.

The book is a real hoot, with Duncan’s pranks galore. I met Duncan’s son and told him of his father’s influence on my own occasional madcaps. He said, “The Gov’nor would be pleased with that.” 

Sigalert. I added this one because of my being a born-again Californian. However, Wikipedia says, “Sig alert, Sig-alert or Sigalert in California as well as other parts of the United States, means an incident that significantly disrupts road traffic…. A Sigalert is defined by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) as ‘any unplanned event that causes the closing of one lane of traffic for 30 minutes or more.’ ” 

Loyd C. “Sig” Sigmon was executive vice president of Golden West Broadcasters (a company owned by singing cowboy Gene Autry). KMPC was one of its radio stations, and in 1955 Sig invented a system for the Los Angeles Police Department to alert radio stations throughout the city.

Wikipedia recounts, “The LAPD’s chief was interested, though skeptical, warning the inventor, ‘We’re going to name this damn thing Sigalert.’ More practically, he refused to use it unless the receivers were made available to all Los Angeles radio stations—it could not be a KMPC monopoly.” 

By the way, Parker is remembered for his support of the radio/television program Dragnet. I wonder how many people around the world recognize “Dum de Dum Dum.”   

Plead the Magna Carta? No, of course, it’s “Plead the Fifth.” This evasive maneuver avoiding personal incrimination became familiar  American jargon during the “Red Scare Madness of the Fifties.” I predict its resurgence, should Trump and his cohorts ever come to trial. ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2024