JumpStart by Robb Armstrong for May 24, 2022

Next up will likely be: “Holy Mackerel dere, Andy!”

I had a good relationship with my Indian-born boss, a Hindu. One day he whispered to me “I’ve tasted beef.”

The problem started when people began to take exclamations like “Holy Cow” literally.

People should not judge the past by today’s standards. It was a far more different world than people can imagine. Transportation was very slow compared to today, the world seemed much, much larger as a result and so it was a time when most people never traveled more than 20 miles from their homes and places of birth their entire lives. The thinking process was very different.

The only PC I really pay attention to is Personal Computer…

Next thing you know, they’ll be censoring the word, “ice cream”.

This assumes there is only one ice cream truck tune. There are a lot. While I’m assuming the tune on this one was originally for ‘Zip Coon’ the average person knows it as the tune for ‘Turkey in the Straw’. But I’ve heard others. ‘Red Wing’ is one I recall around here. Don’t recall any doing Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ but I’d like that one used for an ice cream truck.

Have to admit, I had no idea until I checked in with you fine folks in the Comments yesterday..

@Robb Armstrong…YES and BUT…the tune has been abused but the original was an Irish ballad.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_in_the_Straw

“Turkey in the Straw” is an American folk song that first gained popularity in the early 19th century. The first part of the song is a contrafactum of the ballad “My Grandmother Lived on Yonder Little Green”, published in 1857 by Horace Waters, 333 Broadway, New York City, which itself is a contrafactum of the Irish ballad “The Old Rose Tree” which was published by at least 1795 in Great Britain.12 It was a popular tune for fiddle players as early as 1820. In the late 1870s until the 1930s, racist variations of it were performed in minstrel shows by blackface actors and musicians.3

People are learning the wrong things from history if all they are learning is how to be more easily offended.

Learn from the past and move forward.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people didn’t go out of their way to find things to be offended by?

Aw,you’re just knocking “Holy Cow” because Phil Rizzuto is from New York.

And who would buy from t he truck when you can get Bassett’s in Philly?

You can’t truly appreciate the expression “holy cow” unless you have visited India.

And the word “partner” and the word “word” and…..

Origins: ‘Earliest traced American use in 1905 in a newspaper in the state of Minnesota. Commonly used by American baseball players as early as 1913. They used “Holy cow!” in place of obscene words in order to avoid penalties during the game.’-Google

Want to avoid trouble with ice cream truck tunes not being PC? Choose instrumental versions. Unless the best known lyrics that go with the melody are truly horrific, no one will think about what song it came from. Please don’t select total earworms *(It’s a Small World, Baby Shark, and Winnie the Pooh are all OUT!).

I remember an ad that used the song “Going Up to Cripple Creek.” It would have been a pretty good commercial, except they included the verse about, “the girls on Cripple Creek are about half grow’d; jump on the boys like a dog on a bone.”

Is this a regional thing? Because my whole life I’ve been used to the jingle that comes from “Mr. Softee” and I have no idea if that’s this racist song they’re talking about since I’ve never heard the song with lyrics. There are also other ice cream trucks that just play “do your ears hang low” or “pop goes the weasel” or some other public domain melody. For the record I’m from New York, and this comic is supposed to take place in Philadelphia right?

You can’t say Holy Cow? How about Blessed Beef?

Crunchy, grow a pair.

They should censor the word censor.

When you have to research to find out if you should be offended, you are just trying to be offended.

Holy Cow…problematic for Hindus?

Sure, is in India.