Not In "Mint" Condition
For those of you who are unaware, York Peppermint Patties, a famous and popular American line of candy produced by Hersheys, will no longer be produced in America. If reports are correct, the production plant in Reading, Pa, had 300 workers, and also produced "Fifth Avenue" and "Zagnut" candy bars, and "Jolly Rancher" candy. If I remember one of the ad lines from the past for the York Patties, it said something like "a York patty is like a cool, refreshing breeze." Well it will now feel like some hot air from "south of the border, down Mexico way," as Hershey's is transferring operations to that country for the chocolate-covered mint candy, and supposedly for the other candy types mentioned above, too.
"OLE!!!" That's what you shout when the "bull" comes out.
Word History:
Slump-verb, also used as a noun in certain contexts. Pretty common word, but not a lot of info on it. Likely related to Low German "schlump," although could be borrowed from a relative in the "Scandinavian languages;" that is, North Germanic, as both Norwegian and Danish have "slumpe," which means "to fall/fall upon." Swedish, another North Germanic language, has "slumpa." Originally, it seems to have meant more specifically, "to fall into a muddy area, or into a bog." Linguists seem to feel that the word is a Germanic original and that it is "imitative;" that is, the word is imitative of the sound made when falling into mud or a bog. It seems that the word didn't come into common usage in English until the 1600s. The noun usage for a decline in the economy comes first from the 1880s, when it referred to big drops in stock prices, but that notion broadened to business activity in general during the sharp, post-World War One recession of the early 1920s. By the way, German has "schlumpe(n)," which seems to be a fairly obscure word for them, and whether this is the same word as our "slump," or just a coincidence, I don't know, but the German word means "be untidy, sloven." If it is the same word, if you fell into some mud, you would certainly be "untidy," and that could be the connection.
"OLE!!!" That's what you shout when the "bull" comes out.
Word History:
Slump-verb, also used as a noun in certain contexts. Pretty common word, but not a lot of info on it. Likely related to Low German "schlump," although could be borrowed from a relative in the "Scandinavian languages;" that is, North Germanic, as both Norwegian and Danish have "slumpe," which means "to fall/fall upon." Swedish, another North Germanic language, has "slumpa." Originally, it seems to have meant more specifically, "to fall into a muddy area, or into a bog." Linguists seem to feel that the word is a Germanic original and that it is "imitative;" that is, the word is imitative of the sound made when falling into mud or a bog. It seems that the word didn't come into common usage in English until the 1600s. The noun usage for a decline in the economy comes first from the 1880s, when it referred to big drops in stock prices, but that notion broadened to business activity in general during the sharp, post-World War One recession of the early 1920s. By the way, German has "schlumpe(n)," which seems to be a fairly obscure word for them, and whether this is the same word as our "slump," or just a coincidence, I don't know, but the German word means "be untidy, sloven." If it is the same word, if you fell into some mud, you would certainly be "untidy," and that could be the connection.
Labels: English, etymology, Germanic languages, Hersheys, Mexico, North Germanic, York Peppermint Patties
posted by Randy at 1:18 PM
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