[PW] ?Rowdy: ?American dialect

[Graf, Jeffrey C]

Hello,

Here's an entry from the Dictionary of American Regional English

rowdy n. Cf. ritchie
An  overall jacket.
1942 AmSp 17.129 nwPA The janitor of the college building, having 
misplaed his keys, announced later that he had discovered them in the 
pocket of his _rowdy_... I found that he referred to the jacket of his 
coveralls... An English born janitor .. said in the old country a 
_rowdy_ was something like a mackinaw... The manager of the Penney 
Store.. says that the word is commonly used for a jumper or jacket for 
an overall suit and that he has never heard the term outside of this 
locality.  1998 DARE File nOH, ePA, The minute you said "rowdy," a 
picture of a blue denim jacket came into my mind. I think it was a 
brand name.

Regards,

Jeff Graf
Reference Department
Wells Library
Indiana University - Bloomington





Quoting "Winters, Murl" <WintersM at evangel.edu>:

> This one is for me, so no rush.
>
> Mary Tillotson Mather, 1812-1894, lived in Niobe, NY (southwestern state
> line) and made "her periodical pilgimage to Corry, PA" to see one of her
> son's, Charles L. Mather.  A granddaughter, M. Rio Mather wrote the
> following in a remembrance of her:
>
> When traveling to Corry, "She always wore her best dress over her
> 'ev'ryd'y skirt, rowdy and apron" as that was the easiest way to carry
> them, and she was a very plump-looking little woman when she arrived."
>
> The question is: what was a rowdy?  I would like to include an
> explanation as I pass it on to others of her descendents.
>
> I suspect it may be a localism or perhaps a word spelled phonetically
> but there is no additional hint in the writing.
>
> I have checked the following and several mention variations of a "rowdy
> person" but none mention any type of garment.
>
> Wilcox. The Dictionary of Costume
>
> Oxford English Dictionary.  2nd ed.
>
> Berry & Vanden Bark. American Thesaurus of Slang has it as slang for
> money (item 559.1)
>
> Dalzell and Victor. New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional
> English
>
> Partridge. Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
>
> Craigie & Hulbert. Dictionary of American English on Historical
> Principles
>
> Ammer. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms
>
> Nicholson. American English Usage
>
> Mathews. Dictionary of Americanisms
>
>
>
> Murl Mather Winters
>
> Associate Library Director
>
> Evangel University
>
> Springfield, MO 65802
>
> _______________________________________________
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>