Interesting, example of shifting meaning - I’ve just checked two different editions of the OED and their definitions differ considerably from one another. The Concise OED on my computer gives the definition you provided, whereas the much larger and older two volume Shorter(!)* OED from my bookshelf,
1738 1. A grotesque idol said to have been worshipped by certain tribes of Negroes. 2.transf. An object of senseless veneration. 1847.
I was actually originally checking to see if it had become a phrase best avoided and found the following in a letter to the NY Times
'April 4, 2004
To the Editor:
It was with shock and dismay that I read Daniel B. Schneider’s review of Helen Bannerman’s 1899 classic, ‘‘The Story of Little Black Sambo,’’ reillustrated by Christopher Bing (Children’s Books, March 14).
Neither Schneider nor Bing appears to realize how deeply offensive the language of Sambo is to people of color and their white allies. Sambo is a derogatory name for a black man, a hateful synonym. Sambo’s parents are named Mumbo and Jumbo – again, names that belittle people of color, implying that they cannot speak standard English but only gibberish. This book subtly teaches our young children that they can call a black child Sambo and not insult him.’
So it’s another one to add to that ever growing list!
Stop it… you horror…
Now you’ve got me hallucinating about Cadbury’s Creme Eggs… used to adore them, but haven’t eaten one in years and had almost forgotten just how wonderful they are…
Vero, apologies for helping to take your very interesting post off-subject so quickly, but OTOH digressions are one of the things I love about SF. When marking undergrad essays, I used to urge students to stay on the subject, whereas here, it’s fun to participate in everyone going off-piste.
I find the writings of a bygone era fascinating for the way they record the then norms of human interaction, whether that’s Rudyard Kipling or Thucydides. Not that I would claim to be widely read, but it is interesting.
Agreed absolutely, totally different cultures and ways of thinking. Thucydides was a startling revelation to me and today, as he once did,I view events in my country of origin from the often advantageous perspective of an exile (albeit it exiled by choice - haven’t been back for two years and probably never will)
I also remember the following Kipling poem on the cover(?) of the magazine section of The Guardian in 2006 when the UK was about to go into Afghanistan (predictable rather than prescient outcome of that venture!). Very pleased to find the whole article within seconds at:-
And for those who don’t like reading The Graun -the original poem reads:-
When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains
And the women come out to cut up what remains
Just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An’ go to your Gawd like a soldier.
you want off piste, I used to visit Sambo’s Grave twice a month.
Thanks! Very intriguing but had to look that one up even though I thought that I knew the region quite well and have done the walk across Morecambe Bay with Cedric Robinson (bare feet all the way). I used the experience of that walk and of twelve years living on the Solway coast to write an account ot the local littoral and its unusually high tidal range.
We often take for granted the comings and goings of the tide, but it’s an interesting subject - see
I have the Danish translation of LBS (lille sorte Sambo) and loved the English one when I was a tiny child. No tigers in Africa so I thought LBS must in fact be Tamil.
I used Mumbojumbo in the title of this thread because I was going to call it bollocks but feared that I might, as I so often do, offend with my foul language.
If I have offended go and have a sound bath to help you recover
