Paula Light posted: " Merriam-Webster says that "Jim Dandy" was first used in 1887, which was a long freaking time ago, apparently. People keep saying that the '80s were 40+ years ago, and I have a hard time accepting that. It still seems like just yesterday when my hair "
Merriam-Webster says that "Jim Dandy" was first used in 1887, which was a long freaking time ago, apparently. People keep saying that the '80s were 40+ years ago, and I have a hard time accepting that. It still seems like just yesterday when my hair was permed and I wore lime green leggings with a tie-dyed big shirt. That was the cat's meow, imo, and Jim Dandy means just that. A doozy, hot stuff, the bee's knees, a real humdinger, top-shelf…
But that's the dictionary definition (NTTAWWT), and it's my feeling that the phrase is used sarcastically more than sincerely these days, much like Elvis used it in his 1961 song "Little Sister" (written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman).
Btw, while looking up this song, I discovered there is an 1844 song called "Dandy Jim of Caroline," which has incredibly racist lyrics (that I am not referencing here) and may be where the term Jim Dandy came from originally. They sang it at minstrel shows. This makes the entire phrase suspect, imo, and I for one am glad I never use it, and I should probably delete this post, but it is rather educational, is it not?
Well, I dated your big sister And I took her to a show I went for some candy Along came Jim Dandy And they snuck right out of the door
Elvis is certainly not being complimentary toward Jim Dandy, who seduced his date in the few minutes Elvis spent at the concession stand. Though I suppose if the line had been really long, maybe it was more than a few minutes. Generally, I don't buy any candy at the movies because it's ridonkulously overpriced, but I always see people waiting in the line, probably for popcorn. The thing about popcorn is that people believe it's a healthy snack when it's actually not, especially at the theater where they douse it in buttery goop. Probably better just to have a pack of M&Ms…
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