Date: Thu, 6 Nov 1997 20:30:33 -0500 From: Gerald Cohen Subject: Re: peach-orchard The latest issue of NADS (Newsletter of the American Dialect Society) includes a list of queries by DARE. One item is: "peach-orchard beau, peach-orchard crazy--The first is 'a clandestine sweetheart,' and the second is said to mean 'passionate; lascivious.' Why? Does anyone else know these phrases?" I suppose this use of peach-orchard derives from the blues song "Peach Orchard Mama." It can be found in Eric Sackheim's _The Blues Line_ (Schirmer Books), 1975, p. 78. The lyrics are of course heavy with sexual imagery. Some of them are: Peach orchard mama, you swore nobody 'd pick your fruit but me Peach orchard mama, you swore nobody 'd pick your fruit but me I found three kid men shaking down your peaches free ...I didn't want to kill you mama, but I hate to see your peach-a tree fail ...Peach orchard mama, don't turn your papa down Peach orchard mama, don't turn your papa down Because when I get mad I acts just like a clown Re the last line, in the blues "clown" evidently means "someone eager/willing to have sex." Cf. the lyrics of Alice Moore's "Three Men", _ibid._, p.63: There ain't but three men who can make a clown of me ...There ain't but three men who can really make me fall. --Gerald Cohen gcohen[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]umr.edu