Anyone ever been asked to "Pump the Weasel"?
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Anyone ever been asked to "Pump the Weasel"?
A beardy old boy on an accordian pointed at me and told me to play something, "Go on, pump the weasel," he said.
Was it a tune? Is it old English for playing the whistle? I modestly declined.
Someone help me, I don't want to disappoint him again.
Was it a tune? Is it old English for playing the whistle? I modestly declined.
Someone help me, I don't want to disappoint him again.
Finally feel like I'm getting somewhere. It's only taken 6 years.
- MTGuru
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Re: Anyone ever been asked to "Pump the Weasel"?
Oh dear god, please let this not mean what we're all thinking.
OTOH, I'm not sure that "playing the whistle" is really any better.
OTOH, I'm not sure that "playing the whistle" is really any better.
Vivat diabolus in musica! MTGuru's (old) GG Clips / Blackbird Clips
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- Feadoggie
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Re: Anyone ever been asked to "Pump the Weasel"?
Right! Infernaltootler, you might want to check with the Urban Dictionary.MTGuru wrote:Oh dear god, please let this not mean what we're all thinking.
http://www.urbandictionary.com
Feadoggie
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Re: Anyone ever been asked to "Pump the Weasel"?
takes years of advanced yoga first, dunnit?MTGuru wrote:Oh dear god, please let this not mean what we're all thinking.
OTOH, I'm not sure that "playing the whistle" is really any better.
- s1m0n
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Re: Anyone ever been asked to "Pump the Weasel"?
No idea. The closest I can find is:
but I'd assume that anything at urban dictionary with only a single 'citation' was coined by the citer and is unlikely to exist in the wild.pump weasel
A derogatory comment aimed at an individual who has no social skills whatsoever and is generally perceived to be lower than a snake's belly.
Oi, don't drop your crap in the street you pump weasel!
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis
Re: Anyone ever been asked to "Pump the Weasel"?
He may have been referring to his accordian as a weasel, and was leaving out some other parts of speech. Possibly asking you to simply play anything and he would follow.
Chad Wilson
Some whistles, an old fiddle, an old banjo, a bass, a guitar and a bodhran
Some whistles, an old fiddle, an old banjo, a bass, a guitar and a bodhran
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Re: Anyone ever been asked to "Pump the Weasel"?
pump = blow. weasel = whistle. pump the weasel = blow the whistle.
Suggestions have been made that the phrase "Pop goes the weasel" originated from cockney rhyming slang, see
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/pop- ... easel.html
Half a pound of tuppenny rice,
Half a pound of treacle.
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop goes the weasel.
Up and down the City road,
In and out the Eagle,
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop goes the weasel.
The Eagle was established as a music hall in 1825 and was rebuilt as a public house in 1901. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_Goes_the_Weasel ]
Suggestions have been made that the phrase "Pop goes the weasel" originated from cockney rhyming slang, see
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/pop- ... easel.html
'Popping' is a slang term for pawning, i.e. depositing articles with a pawnbroker in return for money. Weasel may be a corruption of whistle - in cockney rhyming slang 'whistle and flute' i.e. suit. It could also be from another example of CRS, i.e. 'weasel and stoat' -> coat.
The Eagle was a London pub, near the City Road, and a later Eagle pub still exists on the site.
Half a pound of tuppenny rice,
Half a pound of treacle.
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop goes the weasel.
Up and down the City road,
In and out the Eagle,
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop goes the weasel.
The Eagle was established as a music hall in 1825 and was rebuilt as a public house in 1901. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_Goes_the_Weasel ]
Pop goes the Weasel was a dance, popular in England in the 1850s. The dance didn't have lyrics as such. It was a jig and "pop goes the weasel" was shouted out at significant points to accentuate the dance.
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Re: Anyone ever been asked to "Pump the Weasel"?
Personally I would disappoint him, there are some things which just aren't done in public.Someone help me, I don't want to disappoint him again.
Interesting, I am old enough to remember this from my very distant childhood. I was always led to believe that to pop was to pawn an item, as stated, but distinctly remember being told that weasel was a slang term used for a hatter's iron, presumably because of it's shape.'Popping' is a slang term for pawning, i.e. depositing articles with a pawnbroker in return for money. Weasel may be a corruption of whistle - in cockney rhyming slang 'whistle and flute' i.e. suit. It could also be from another example of CRS, i.e. 'weasel and stoat' -> coat.
The Eagle was a London pub, near the City Road, and a later Eagle pub still exists on the site.
Can't means won't and won't means jail.
- s1m0n
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Re: Anyone ever been asked to "Pump the Weasel"?
There is an enormous range of theories about the origin or meaning of "Pop goes the Weasel". The short answer is that no one knows. It's a late arrival in print (found no earlier than the mid nineteen hundreds) but almost certainly considerably older than that. The present form of the worlds didn't appear in print til 1914.
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis
- Feadoggie
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Re: Anyone ever been asked to "Pump the Weasel"?
Oh my!s1m0n wrote:The present form of the worlds didn't appear in print til 1914.
I've proven who I am so many times, the magnetic strips worn thin.
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Re: Anyone ever been asked to "Pump the Weasel"?
Hmmm.... as in Thin Weasel? I asked Glenn about that name once and he said that it was an "in joke" and I didn't pursue it any further.
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Re: Anyone ever been asked to "Pump the Weasel"?
I think I recall reading it was based on how someone with a thick Irish accent might pronounce the phrases "Thin Weasel" and "Tin Whistle" practically identically.brewerpaul wrote:Hmmm.... as in Thin Weasel? I asked Glenn about that name once and he said that it was an "in joke" and I didn't pursue it any further.
- Feadoggie
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Re: Anyone ever been asked to "Pump the Weasel"?
I had thought that myself. Kind of like that infamous movie line, "Badgers? We don't need no stinking badgers."BoneQuint wrote:I think I recall reading it was based on how someone with a thick Irish accent might pronounce the phrases "Thin Weasel" and "Tin Whistle" practically identically.
Feadoggie
I've proven who I am so many times, the magnetic strips worn thin.
Re: Anyone ever been asked to "Pump the Weasel"?
So was the box player telling him to play his weasel/whistle aggressively or suggesting that pawning the weasel/whistle might be a better course?
The Walrus
What would a wild walrus whistle if a walrus could whistle wild?
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Re: Anyone ever been asked to "Pump the Weasel"?
Hmmm ... "weasel" was always "coat" in rhyming slang in my experience: "weasel and stoat".