802-1: Feedback, Notes and Comments

Hoity-toity Harry Audus asked “It seems too much of a coincidence if hoity-toity has nothing to do with haughty. What do you think?” The idea behind haughty is the same one of superiority as that of the modern sense of hoity-toity. It’s more direct, as haughty derives directly, via Old French, from Latin altus, high.

“Thank you for your definitions and depictions of hoity-toity”, wrote Kim Vares. “They’ve brought a smile to my face and a warmth to my heart. My mother, recently passed, often referred to those socializing with the elite as ‘hob-nobbing with the hooty-snoots’. A descriptive judgement somewhat similar to your explanation of hoity-toity and one that we used to giggle over.”

Lucie Singh wondered if hoity-toity was “at the heart of so many people thinking that hoi polloi means the upper crust (often perceived to be haughty etc) rather than the great unwashed? This misapprehension is rampant in the States.”

Grand slam Several readers repeated a comment widely attributed online, that O B Keeler of the Atlanta Journal used grand slam to describe the success of golfer Bobby Jones, who in 1930 won all four of the major golfing titles (British amateur, US open, British open and US amateur). The term was actually in wide use from about July that year as Jones won successive tournaments and the expectation increased that he would succeed in all four. This is how one newspaper of a great many described the culmination:

Bobby Jones swamped Gene Homans, 8 and 7, today in the finals of the U. S. amateur championship thereby completing his unparalleled “grand slam” in golf for 1930.
[Beatrice Daily Sun (Nebraska), 28 Sep. 1930.]

I’ve since found that it was also being used in other contexts for a team that won all its matches in a contest: it certainly appeared in reports about Davis Cup matches earlier the same year, so predating its use for the grand slam tennis singles titles.

James Swenson commented that “a grand slam in baseball — scoring four runs in a single time at bat — is the supreme accomplishment: four is maximal. In the US, later usages are strongly influenced by baseball: it seems to be important that one is achieving exactly four things (or occasionally three of some four, as a concession to difficulty). Examples at Wikipedia include tennis, NASCAR stock car racing, golf, fly-fishing, professional wrestling, men’s curling, and ultra-running. I would find it hard to assign the name grand slam to a new feat unless it had some basic fourness.”

The article contained my Error of the Week, as many readers noted, including Mary Donnelly: “Australians would love to have had Donald Budge as their own, as you mentioned in this post; however, he was an American.”

Lol! Simon Cochemé wrote, “You mentioned a popular text-speak abbreviation — LOL. This has been used by bridge players for at least 40 years for little old lady, a weak player of either gender.”

Sic! In response to one of my items last week, Ian Dalziel wrote, “Speaking as one approaching that milestone, the percentages of ‘those aged 65+ in long-term care facilities’ present no conundrum. The responses were clearly: 21% — Male; 31% — Female; 48% — Can’t remember right now — it’ll come back to me.”