Talk:Jimmy Crack Corn

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Rating[edit]

I'm going to rate this as "start". It could use some expansion and scholarly referrences. Pustelnik 21:30, 3 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

meaning[edit]

I would venture a guess on what "Jimmy crack corn" means. "Jim" as in Jim Crow law, as in a popular name for poor rural black in the 19th century. Corn as in white man, as in "white". "Crack" as in kill. Stbalbach 22:59, 13 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

afaik, "Jim Crow Laws" didn't come about until after the Civil War, and the song is from the 1840's, so I doubt there would be any overt connection... Codex Sinaiticus 15:06, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
"Jim Crow" was a popular name for poor rural blacks in the 19th century, it didnt originate with the "Jim Crow law", other way around.Stbalbach 15:48, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Jim Crow Laws were named after Jim Crow, a minstrel character who rose to prominence at the exact same time as this song. That said, corn isn't white and the original singers were, so Stbalbach's conjecture is almost certainly off. — LlywelynII 10:01, 3 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
My great grandfather was a Southern slave owner, and as a child, I even met a woman born into slavery on the family plantation. I've always understood that "Jimmy" was the common name for a mule, and "cracked corn" was expensive feed, specifically, dried corn which had been broken ("cracked") into smaller peices. As much as possible, a mule would be given less expensive feed. Cracked corn was a treat for a mule. Cracked corn is the major form that corn is used for animal feed---indeed cracked corn is a major component of my parrot's feed. (The Southern stables grits and corn meal are essentially finely-cracked corn). So, the meaning of "Jimmy crack corn"---as I was told--- was a shortened version of , "Jimmy's in the cracked corn", meaning that the mule had found a way, or broken a way, into where the cracked corn was stored, and was having a treat. Presumably, the singer was expressing empathy with his fellow beast of burden and for the same reason---both were free to relax or eat what they wanted, at least temporarily. Or maybe Jimmy was the pony, who was rewarded by the singer with cracked corn. JRPstoney (talk) 19:54, 8 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I doubt that "cracked" refers to chemical cracking, which is an organic chemistry slang term, probably not in use until the very late 19 th century.JRPstoney (talk) 19:54, 8 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Doggone, JRPstoney; you just deflated my pet theory, which I've held ever since I came across the fact that a "cat cracker" is some kind of chemical apparatus--"cat" being short for "catalytic." I thought Jimmy was now busily making corn whiskey, but the narrator doesn't care, because Massa's gone away and nobody will find out.  :{ Oh, well. I will probably latch on to another wrong idea before too long. But I was so proud of this one. Terry J. Carter (talk) 20:59, 6 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
My speculation is that it alluded to both Jump Jim Crow and Old Corn Meal, possibly with a wordplay on one or more of the other interpretations. dsws 23:42, 8 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
My speculation is that this is the story of a murder. The slave who has the task to "... follow after with a hickory broom. Pass the bottle when he gets dry and brush away the blue-tail fly." keeps his master feeling a bit loose with the booze, then flicks the horse, stinging him with the hickory broom. This results in:
"The horse he run, he jump, he pitch. He throws my master in a ditch. He died and the jury wondered why. The verdict was the blue-tail fly."
No evidence of the wrong doing, so the murder goes undiscovered and unpunished. I never noticed this as a kid singing the song but it now seems obvious. EverettH 00:38, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
An alternate explanation from The Straight Dope: [1]--BAW 00:41, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The story I remember hearing was that the lyrics were originally "Gimme cracked corn", meaning that he didn't care about the bad food because he had freedom. I don't have a cite for this, so I'm mentioning it here. -- Samuel Wantman 05:51, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Corn meal, from which Southern corn bread is made, is not flour but rather is coarsely-ground dried corn consisting of flour-size to grits-size particles. Corn meal is essentially "finely cracked corn", as was "grits". (Modern grits are more correctly called "hominy grits", which is a more processed version.) So there is a declining progression in corn particle size" cracked-corn > grits > corn meal > corn flour. The Southern staples were cornbread and greens. Many Southern whites still have cornbread and greens with every dinner. So I doubt that "cracked corn" was disdained by the slaves as less palatable food than they were used to.JRPstoney (talk) 19:54, 8 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I've always been told "cracking corn" means snoring. This might have been a bit of bowdlerization, but at least one site back this interpretation up. [2] -- 14:43, 14 September 2005 (UTC)
This is quite obviously, at least to me from my perspective as an African American, the story of a slave who killed his oppressor, and in utter contempt, though feigning grief, blames his just demise on a biting fly. Moreover he gets away with it by playing "dumb" and lives to sing, and in my mind at least, dance on Massa's grave. Hooperxxx 00:25, 21 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
All of that may be well and good, but it's all beside the point. Jimmy Crack Corn and Jimminy Cricket are both euphemisms for Jesus Christ. Repeating the lyrics in a song of this nature gives the singer the thrill of swearing without really swearing. Cf. Cheese and Crackers. The slave is expressing his lackadaisical attitude at the death of his master. Furthermore, Crack rhymes with Drack, a euphemism for damn. 216.99.201.35 (talk) 20:49, 19 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
There's an interesting parallel in a Scots folk song Wee Cooper O'Fife, in which a man does not beat his wife, but beats a sheepskin that he has laid on his wife's back. Quite similar to just swatting a fly that happens to have landed on the flanks of the master's horse ? Also There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly and For Want of a Nail (proverb). It all seems congruent, but probably not worth linking in a 'See Also' section ? --195.137.93.171 (talk) 08:47, 5 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]
There seems to be an error in the list of theories about the origin of "Jimmy crack corn." The first bullet in the list, that it refers to cheap corn whiskey, restates the preceding sentence yet it is introduced with: "Other possibilities include:" I didn't feel sure enough to touch the text, but I suggest merging the paragraph and first bullet, perhaps as a bullet to make it easier for the reader to locate "the first interpretation" when they read the next paragraph. Billfalls (talk) 15:47, 28 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
According to Pete Seeger the words were originally,"Gimme cracked corn and I won't care," implying that a bit of cracked corn would be enough to assuage his "sorrow" over his master's death. This seems plausible, but I can‘t find any other confirmation. If someone has better resources, it might be worth looking into.
Folks, I'm a 6th generation southern boy. I can tell you for a fact that the word / term "Jimmie" always referred to a house slave. The term "my jimmie" was how a plantation owner introduced strangers to the slave of the house. To "crack corn" often just meant to make or drink the corn liquor. So in this case it's actually quite simple: The singer is referring to the house slave getting drunk after the death of the "massa". Whether it's in sadness or rejoicing... that's hard to tell. But that is what this song is about. It's very racist and I would think very offensive to Americans of African descent. When you take the original song in context and look at who performed it, and when - it should be very obvious that it was always meant to be an offensive song, poking fun at Southern black folks. It's not good. Cheers. 73.6.96.168 (talk) 11:54, 2 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I don't doubt you. What you say is basically what the article says, except for defining the word "jimmie". If a reliable source can be found with that interpretation we should definitely add it to the article. ~Anachronist (talk) 15:21, 2 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

lyrics?[edit]

If the song is that old, it's definitely in the public domain. That being the case, there's really no point to this article unless it includes the lyrics (cf. Yankee Doodle, etc.). I was going to do so myself, but got bogged down trying to find the best variant to include — the one with the best mix of brevity, clarity, and antiquity. Is there somebody out there less obsessive than I? Doops | talk 03:19, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Wikisource is a good place to find a lasting home for the various versions. Typically encyclopedias are not source documents, it makes sense if its very short, or sections are quoted with annotations. Thus the creation of Wikisource. Stbalbach 03:46, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
True, for great length or multiple versions. But a basic text — brief, clear, and authentic — is necessary so we know what the rest of the article is about. You have to know what something is before you can discuss it. Right now the article is very confusing, as it seems to assume that the reader knows the song. Doops | talk 03:52, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Some of the versions are long. Should we present a version based only on its brevity? I had no trouble finding the sources in external links, it wasnt confusing. A Wikisource banner at the head of the article would be even better and more in line with best practices. Stbalbach 04:04, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, antiquity is more important than brevity. I guess just one stanza would do, just to give the reader a flavor. I added one, using the Emmet example from the links — making a few typographical formatting decisions but not regularizing the spelling. Doops | talk 05:24, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
The article definitely needs enough of the lyrics to demonstrate the alleged subtext rather than simply asserting it. Cdixon 18:48, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I agree. There are no copyright issues with adding them. They are all available on one or the other of the mudcat threads linked from the article. If someone else wants to take this on, great, if not I'll try to get to it this weekend. -- Jmabel | Talk 23:30, 15 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I added enough to discuss the main points of the song, but I don't think more is needed -- not because of copyright issues (which usually apply to lyrics questions) but because of encyclopedic necessity. I do, however, fully support adding multiple full versions to Wikisource and appropriately linking that here. --Dhartung | Talk 05:08, 16 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I added more. It's the internet; we have tables; and they're song lyrics. We've got room. — LlywelynII 10:01, 3 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Shoo fly[edit]

Isn't there a second refrain that goes "Shoo fly, don't bother me" in place of "Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care"...? In fact, when I was about 5-7 years old, I think I knew the name of the song as "Shoo fly, don't bother me"...! Codex Sinaiticus 13:55, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I kind of thought that that was a different song. --BDD 18:10, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
That is an entirely different song. -- Jmabel | Talk 18:46, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, a lot of people learned it as a medley. I think Pete Seeger was one of the sources for this. We certainly sang "Shoo Fly" as a sort of bridge to the song when I was in elementary school. --Dhartung | Talk 21:02, 14 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Quibbles[edit]

The vernacular version seems to have a mix of "the" and "de" There should be no "D" on "And" in the 4th line of the first verse. The first line of 2nd verse has "An'" - that would be more consistent. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 216.39.144.40 (talk • contribs) 25 November 2006.

Actually, what they probably should be is (1) cited and (2) quoted verbatim from the cited source. - Jmabel | Talk 07:55, 27 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I'd go further. The place for full sets of lyrics is Wikisource. Our article should include portions of the lyrics with sourced, critical commentary. — BrianSmithson 08:34, 27 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Forced or First?[edit]

The line at the end where the "Master is Forced to lie" sounds awfully suspect. Does anybody have access to an old songbook for possible correction? The line sounds a lot more like a punchline, where the Master is the First to Die of Horse Fly Bite, and this got changed to a reference about his unwillingness to lie in his place of ultimate repose. 216.99.201.35 (talk) 20:58, 19 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

"Forced". Has no choice about being dead. See "irony" and "master and slave, usual position of dominance in relationship of". — LlywelynII 10:01, 3 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Should there be a link to "Uncle Tom"?[edit]

There is a good discussion there about "tomming". In fact it was that article that made me think of this song and then to look here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.145.60.10 (talk • contribs)

I'm not sure where you are suggesting a link be made, but go ahead and add it if you want. See WP:BOLD. — BrianSmithson 18:48, 11 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

"Deliberate negligence"[edit]

What's "deliberate negligence"? Surely if you do something deliberately you intend to do it and therefore can't have done it by accident? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 212.219.155.28 (talk • contribs) 18 May 2006.

http://courtofappeals.mijud.net/Digest/newHTML/12984721.htm: "Wilful negligence manifests an intentional disregard for another's safety. In contrast, wanton conduct is reckless but without intent." - Jmabel | Talk 00:03, 2 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
As Jmabel pointed out, you can deliberately leave another in danger. The more common phrase is "willful" negligence, though. — LlywelynII 10:01, 3 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Lincoln[edit]

I cut the uncited claim "It was a favorite song of Abraham Lincoln." If true, should be easy to cite: there's hardly a human being in the last 200 years about whom more has been written. - Jmabel | Talk 06:21, 21 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I imagine there are better references than these, but they show some historical record of a tradition. -- Stbalbach 14:58, 21 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Uncited conjecture[edit]

Uncited conjecture cut from article: "'Crack corn' might also refer to popping popcorn, presumably frowned upon by masters." - Jmabel | Talk 04:31, 7 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Phone Commericial[edit]

In the phone commerical (sorry, don't know the carrier), a "dropped call" causes a future son-in-law to mistakenly think he's offended Jim.

In the original version, the young man ends his attempt to be a "buddy" with the song, "Jimmy Crack Corn and I don't care". The commerical now edits that song out, for whatever reason. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.113.237.156 (talk) 04:12, 9 January 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Here is why the line was taken out: http://cbs13.com/national/local_story_352232207.html —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 208.252.179.25 (talk • contribs) 20 February 2007.
Interesting that they and their complainants take it at face value that "He's grieving his master’s death." They completely miss the subtext that he may have killed his master. - Jmabel | Talk 05:42, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It's a minstrel song. He was originally grieving his master's death. That the minstrels missed that themselves (or snuck it past the dominant culture à la Shylock) is hardly a slight on the annoyed. — LlywelynII 10:01, 3 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Cingular and Ives[edit]

The cingular "trivia" is trivia. We don't do trivia lists at Wikipedia. See WP:TRIVIA and WP:NOT#INDISCRIMINATE.

Ives last song as his last public performance is notable. -- Stbalbach 00:32, 29 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps it is notable in the relevant Ives article, but certainly not to this one.Tritium6 17:16, 29 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
This one is notable. Seeger was a notable popularizer of the song, the article mentions Seeger in multiple places and he is closely associated with this song. The fact Ives and Seeger sang it as Ives last song together makes it notable enough for inclusion - it's not just a random fact of any singer, it is part of the bigger picture and adds depth and character to the songs background. -- Stbalbach 23:54, 29 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Ives was the notable popularizer of the song. Seeger just made excuses for himself so he could cash in on it. — LlywelynII 10:01, 3 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"Not English"[edit]

Someone recently tagged the article as being "not English", a template that, among other things, threatens deletion if the article is not "translated" in two weeks. This is a misuse of this template, as the article is quite clearly written in English. The lyrics of the song, where the template was placed, are also in English, albeit ersatz black vernacular English. The lyrics do need annotation (and probably should be transwikied to Wikisource), but they do not need "translation". I have removed the template. — Brian (talk) 04:41, 18 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

"quite clearly written in English"? arternoon? foiler? debble? De poney? Pray tell, in what dictionary may I find these? Ewlyahoocom 06:32, 18 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Those are quite clear to me. Arternoon is afternoon, debble is devil, de poney is the pony. Foiler is the only one that isn't immediately obvious, but context shows it to be some sort of menial work on the farm. At any rate, this is a moot argument; the article itself is in English, and there is no need to place it in a category with non-English articles destined for deletion. The fact that you can't decipher the dialect lyrics doesn't change this fact. If you wish for the "Lyrics" section to be expanded, please use the appropriate expansion tag, but please don't misuse a tag alleging the article isn't in English. — Brian (talk) 06:49, 18 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Foiler is follow, just to clear that up. Say it out loud in a southern accent, and it becomes pretty obvious. As for the issue at hand, Ebonics, which is what I'm judging these lyrics to be, is considered English. It's the same idea as wanting to convert a British poem to American English because the article itself is more American inclined (and therefore uses American English.) That doesn't make much sense.Torca 04:35, 15 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Just to clear it up even more, foiler was a typo. — LlywelynII 10:01, 3 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Lyrics aren't article running text. The article was in English; the song in its original form is minstrelsy. We actually can't use 20th century versions owing to copyright issues and WP:OR. We can link them from the external links section, though. — LlywelynII 10:01, 3 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Original research deleted[edit]

Hey guys - I've "been bold" and deleted speculation that "From a petroleum engineer's perspective, this could simply refer to corn whiskey. 'Cracking' is, in general, a process of reducing an input substance to a desired output substance... so 'cracked' corn might be corn whiskey." No insult intended to the editor who threw it in, but it's original research. I didn't slap a "citation needed" tag on it because the song had already been written and performed before that kind of 'cracking' had been invented (the article says that the song became popular in the 1840s, and petroleum cracking was pioneered in the following decade). Cracking in the petroleum context referred specifically to the "cracking" of molecular bonds to leave more simple hydrocarbons. If it's passed into more general use to denote any similar kind of process, which the author seems to claim, then so be it - but that would still be after the song was written. Anyway, if I've got that wrong and someone can correct me (and, more importantly for the article, cite it), then absolutely feel free to throw it back in.Señor Service (talk) 21:22, 31 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

They were right for the wrong reason. You were fine. — LlywelynII 10:01, 3 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Mudcat[edit]

References 7 & 8 (mudcat.org) are links to forum discussions where most people say things like 'My father taught me it was a slave song.' Are these really credible sources? I think the lines referencing these pages should be removed. --Marco Passarani (talk) 01:07, 4 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yes and no. No, we really shouldn't be using them as sources for specific datum; yes, it is pretty much the premier folk musicology site on the net and is a legitimate reference point when saying things like "some people hold ~". Better to nix the direct cites, though, and just store those (admittedly helpful) threads in the external links section. — LlywelynII 10:01, 3 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

History and Interpretation[edit]

In the third paragraph, a minor glitch in its reference to the list of possible interpretations.

Most etymologists support the first interpretation, as the term "cracker" appears to predate "corn-cracking". Also, "whipcracker" has no historical backing.[14] This suggests that, in the chorus, the slaves may be making whiskey and celebrating.

Note, the "first interpretation" in the given list is about gimcrack corn. The slang "cracker" for white men is third. I presume the latter fits the cited reference, but I wasn't sure. KhyranLeander (talk) 13:26, 16 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

That entire section was bogus. The editor misread the (now dead) source. Pulled. — LlywelynII 10:01, 3 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"Jimmy Crack Corn" or "Gimme Cracked Corn"?[edit]

During the late 18th Century and early 19th century, a basic sustenance food was cracked corn, from which a porridge was made. Not luxurious by any means, but sustaining if one could afford nothing else. Therefore, "Give me cracked corn, and I don't care"; i.e., as long as I have my basic sustenance I'm satisfied, because "my master's gone away"; i.e., I'm no longer under the master's yoke.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.238.168.85 (talk) 21:28, 8 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Nope, neither. Gimcrack corn.
Also, wet cracked corn is properly called "hominy", not "a porridge". — LlywelynII 10:01, 3 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Question[edit]

Perhaps it was at some time "Give me cracked corn.", that being the cheapest of foods? That would seem to make sense to black faced minstrels. — Preceding unsigned comment added by David R. Ingham (talk • contribs) 02:18, 26 March 2012‎ (UTC)[reply]

I always thought the master got so drunk on cheap corn whiskey that the horse easily threw him off... Halda (talk) 15:13, 12 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I really don't understand why the author thinks the slave was charged with a crime. In the South, as everywhere at the time, cases of sudden death were investigated by a coroner, who summoned a jury to render a verdict on the cause of death. If the verdict was "accidental death" (or in this case, "de blue-tail fly") a criminal prosecution was unlikely. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.142.86.14 (talk) 23:43, 2 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Prison[edit]

Sounds like he is in prison eating gimcrack corn. Just granpa (talk) 20:27, 14 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

But he was cleared of the charges. ;) — LlywelynII 12:18, 6 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Article name[edit]

Blue Tail Fly isn't completely unknown, but it's still been the less-common name for 30 years now. The article leads with the page name. — LlywelynII 21:32, 30 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I don't understand your point. BMK (talk) 22:27, 30 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Never mind, I didn't realize that you had already changed the order. BMK (talk) 22:28, 30 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Fourth & fifth 1846 versions[edit]

The 1928 American Negro Folk-Songs (p. 152) cites the The Negro Singer's Own Book, Containing Every Negro Song that Has Ever Been Sung or Printed published by Turner & Fisher in New York &/or Philadelphia in 1846 as having "De Blue Tail Fly" (p. 49) and "De New Blue Tail Fly" "by a U. S. N. officer" (p. 413). No idea if they have the same lyrics and different melodies or what, since there's no version of that work available online. Anyone near a university library? — LlywelynII 10:22, 3 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move 20 March 2015[edit]

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: moved per TWODABS. DrKiernan (talk) 10:42, 28 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

– I know Eminem is a pretty well known artist, but there's no way that the folk song, taught to millions of children every year, is not the WP:PRIMARYTOPIC for this title. Indeed, considering there's only two items on the current disambiguation page, there's nor real need for one. This article should have the undisambiguated title, the Eminiem song should keep the parenthetical, and the hatnote should be sufficient for any use. Seems obvious to me. oknazevad (talk) 04:37, 20 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

  • Additional comment Seems the current article is the victim of a cut-and-paste move from the song's alternate title Blue Tail Fly some years back, and that needs to be fixed anywho.oknazevad (talk) 04:37, 20 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support, restore to primary - should never have been moved to accommodate the Eminem song. Would delete the dab page too. In ictu oculi (talk) 08:03, 20 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support (and I don't care). This page should have the sole 'Jimmy Crack Corn' title (Eminem's "song" isn't even related to this well-known version), and I agree that there is no need for the disamb. page. 'Jimmy Crack Corn' is an important song in the slave narrative, a way for slaves to show enjoyment at injury done to a slave master while at the same time seemingly just singing a silly little song. Historically important. Randy Kryn 12:40 20 March, 2015 (UTC)
  • Speedy support, and I ditto In ictu oculi and Oknazevad as far as deleting the dab page. Red Slash 21:50, 20 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - and I also agree on deleting the disambig page, the hatnote is sufficient for people looking for the other song by Eminem.74.104.150.176 (talk) 22:21, 20 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - Makes perfect sense. BMK (talk) 06:02, 21 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

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Sing me an old-fashioned song[edit]

This song by Bill-Jo Spears is a must to be mentioned in this article.--Mideal (talk) 10:11, 19 March 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Which song? And why? Such bold statements need supporting arguments and evidence, not mere "must"s. oknazevad (talk) 14:57, 19 March 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Jesus cracked corn on the sabbath[edit]

Jimmy cracked corn = Jesus cracked corn on the sabbath.
and I dont care = its ok to break the law sometimes. Just granpa (talk) 20:07, 15 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

'phrasal verb'[edit]

"The idea that Jim or Jimmy is "cracking open" a jug of whiskey is similarly unsupported: that phrasal verb is attested..."

There is no phrasal verb involved at all there, not even elliptically, even given the gnarly topic of phrasal verbs. "open", here, functions as an adjective (not as a verb; the action is leaving the item in question in a state of being open, which is clearly adjectival), which is about the only part of speech universally excluded from grammarian classifications of phrasal verbs.
Merriam-Webster, for their analog entry "break open" does refer to that phrase as a "phrasal verb", which is an editorially-challenged blunder. I suppose lexicographers are specialists in the business of defining things rather than parsing them. See:

'What is the grammatical function of "open" in "break open"?'; final comment. -- https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/474319/what-is-the-grammatical-function-of-open-in-break-open

Inasmuch as modern lexicographers, like modern grammarians, define things by usage and not by fiat, there's a danger of circularity whereby they start incorporating their own analyses into definitions. Eg.

OED: "Welp, I see Webster calling verb-adjective combos as potential phrasal verbs, so let's just add that to stewpot, eh chaps?" JohndanR (talk) 20:51, 23 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
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