Thank you. I think I'm right in thinking that Wodehouse has always had a big following in India (I am assuming, and I apologise if I'm wrong, that you are there). However, although he was born into the Raj era and lived much of his life while it still existed, I don’t think that extends to borrowing Hobson-Jobson varieties of slang. More, dare I say, the pity.
I don't know Hobson-Jobson, but there are some Indian influences in Wodehouse's use of language.
An Indian student whose long name is abbreviated to Ram by his English schoolmates appears in Wodehouse's early novel "The Luck Stone", beginning in chapter 6: (1908)
He uses the flowery but unreliable English diction of Anstey's "Baboo Jabberjee".
Words in Wodehouse mentioned by my fellow annotators that are derived from Indian languages, and probably brought back to England by British soldiers, include chokey (from Hindi chauki, for a police station or lock-up), dekko (for a look or glance, from Hindi dekho, "Look!"), pukka, from Hindi pakka (honest, substantial), and shikari (hunter, safari guide).
Cheerio! It's a joy to see your take on Wodehouse slang, and it's a pleasure to have a chance to thank you for your generous sharing of scholarship.
As part of the team of Wodehouse annotators on the website of Madame Eulalie's Rare Plums, I've included links to your GDoS site in the annotations of at least twenty of Wodehouse's books. Occasionally I also mention Wodehouse slang that you and other dictionaries don't cover. For instance, in the notes to 'Carry On, Jeeves' I cite you for one sense of "skid" but mention that you don't cover Wodehouse's use of "mangling" as a humorous take on eating: see https://madameulalie.org/annots/pgwbooks/pgwcoj1.html#mangling
You're cited six times in the notes to 'The Code of the Woosters'; five times in 'Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit'; three times each in 'Full Moon', 'Piccadilly Jim', 'Uncle Fred in the Springtime', and 'Hot Water'; twice each in 'The Old Reliable', 'Spring Fever', and 'Galahad at Blandings'; and once each in 'Bill the Conqueror', 'Cocktail Time', 'The Girl on the Boat', 'Laughing Gas', 'Lord Emsworth and Others', 'The Luck of the Bodkins', 'Money for Nothing', 'Psmith in the City', 'Something Fishy', 'Summer Lightning', 'Thank You, Jeeves', and 'Very Good, Jeeves'.
In 'Uncle Dynamite' I note that you have no entry for 'bezuzus'.
In your article above, you mention 'trickle', to which 'totter', 'toddle', and 'stagger' could be added for verbs of motion characteristic of Bertie Wooster and his friends at the Drones Club. I agree with you that 'browsing and sluicing' seems to be a Wodehouse coinage; I cite you for 'browsing' by itself in the notes to 'Right Ho, Jeeves'. Another verb recognized by the OED as "only in P. G. Wodehouse" is 'snooter', and you also suggest PGW as the probable coiner; I mention it here merely as a supplement for other readers.
It's clear that one of Wodehouse's sources for Americanisms was George Ade.
Minor nit: You have a hyphen in "ranny-gazoo" the second time you mention it above, but your first use of it without a hyphen is the way Wodehouse spells it.
We've enjoyed watching the Jeeves and Wooster series with Hugh Laurie at our house. Not the same as reading Wodehouse, but we catch glimpses of his humor. By the way, I know of another slang term for drunkenness that I actually encountered in a Sigrid Undset novel (I *think* it was The Wild Orchid). It's "squiffy". I just love that word.
Wodehouse also used "squiffy", both as an adjective and as a nickname. It's listed among a number of synonyms for "drunk" in the annotations to 'The Inimitable Jeeves' at Madame Eulalie's Rare Plums:
*Really* enjoyed this. (I remember the revelation of realising - through researching something completely different - that Wodehouse's slang is a magnificent hybrid; and that he draws heavily in American gangster slang...)
I went through a phase of reading Wodehouse in my teens. I was a regular visitor to the local library (remember those?), where one day I picked up one of his J&W books and thought it looked interesting; I went on to read probably a dozen or so of them. I remember finding them to be a delightful blend of quaintness, hilarity and acerbity.
Thank you. I think I'm right in thinking that Wodehouse has always had a big following in India (I am assuming, and I apologise if I'm wrong, that you are there). However, although he was born into the Raj era and lived much of his life while it still existed, I don’t think that extends to borrowing Hobson-Jobson varieties of slang. More, dare I say, the pity.
I don't know Hobson-Jobson, but there are some Indian influences in Wodehouse's use of language.
An Indian student whose long name is abbreviated to Ram by his English schoolmates appears in Wodehouse's early novel "The Luck Stone", beginning in chapter 6: (1908)
https://madameulalie.org/chums/luckstone03.html
He uses the flowery but unreliable English diction of Anstey's "Baboo Jabberjee".
Words in Wodehouse mentioned by my fellow annotators that are derived from Indian languages, and probably brought back to England by British soldiers, include chokey (from Hindi chauki, for a police station or lock-up), dekko (for a look or glance, from Hindi dekho, "Look!"), pukka, from Hindi pakka (honest, substantial), and shikari (hunter, safari guide).
Traipse. We def. like traipse. I shall shuffle on encouraged.
Cheerio! It's a joy to see your take on Wodehouse slang, and it's a pleasure to have a chance to thank you for your generous sharing of scholarship.
As part of the team of Wodehouse annotators on the website of Madame Eulalie's Rare Plums, I've included links to your GDoS site in the annotations of at least twenty of Wodehouse's books. Occasionally I also mention Wodehouse slang that you and other dictionaries don't cover. For instance, in the notes to 'Carry On, Jeeves' I cite you for one sense of "skid" but mention that you don't cover Wodehouse's use of "mangling" as a humorous take on eating: see https://madameulalie.org/annots/pgwbooks/pgwcoj1.html#mangling
You're cited six times in the notes to 'The Code of the Woosters'; five times in 'Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit'; three times each in 'Full Moon', 'Piccadilly Jim', 'Uncle Fred in the Springtime', and 'Hot Water'; twice each in 'The Old Reliable', 'Spring Fever', and 'Galahad at Blandings'; and once each in 'Bill the Conqueror', 'Cocktail Time', 'The Girl on the Boat', 'Laughing Gas', 'Lord Emsworth and Others', 'The Luck of the Bodkins', 'Money for Nothing', 'Psmith in the City', 'Something Fishy', 'Summer Lightning', 'Thank You, Jeeves', and 'Very Good, Jeeves'.
In 'Uncle Dynamite' I note that you have no entry for 'bezuzus'.
In your article above, you mention 'trickle', to which 'totter', 'toddle', and 'stagger' could be added for verbs of motion characteristic of Bertie Wooster and his friends at the Drones Club. I agree with you that 'browsing and sluicing' seems to be a Wodehouse coinage; I cite you for 'browsing' by itself in the notes to 'Right Ho, Jeeves'. Another verb recognized by the OED as "only in P. G. Wodehouse" is 'snooter', and you also suggest PGW as the probable coiner; I mention it here merely as a supplement for other readers.
It's clear that one of Wodehouse's sources for Americanisms was George Ade.
Minor nit: You have a hyphen in "ranny-gazoo" the second time you mention it above, but your first use of it without a hyphen is the way Wodehouse spells it.
We've enjoyed watching the Jeeves and Wooster series with Hugh Laurie at our house. Not the same as reading Wodehouse, but we catch glimpses of his humor. By the way, I know of another slang term for drunkenness that I actually encountered in a Sigrid Undset novel (I *think* it was The Wild Orchid). It's "squiffy". I just love that word.
Thank you. Might I suggest you take a look at the 'drunk' section of my Timelines of Slang: https://timelinesofslang.com/drunk.html
Wodehouse also used "squiffy", both as an adjective and as a nickname. It's listed among a number of synonyms for "drunk" in the annotations to 'The Inimitable Jeeves' at Madame Eulalie's Rare Plums:
https://www.madameulalie.org/annots/pgwbooks/pgwtij1.html#squiffy
*Really* enjoyed this. (I remember the revelation of realising - through researching something completely different - that Wodehouse's slang is a magnificent hybrid; and that he draws heavily in American gangster slang...)
Love this! My mom loves PG Wodehouse - she's the one who introduced me to him - and so I always think of his books with such fondness.
- S
I went through a phase of reading Wodehouse in my teens. I was a regular visitor to the local library (remember those?), where one day I picked up one of his J&W books and thought it looked interesting; I went on to read probably a dozen or so of them. I remember finding them to be a delightful blend of quaintness, hilarity and acerbity.
A lovely traipse through his work. I have an omnibus I ought to be reading. I've read a couple, The Mating Season being a favorite.