A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

Recent entries:
“Instead of ‘British Summer Time’ and ‘Greenwich Mean Time’ we should just call them ‘Oven Clock Correct Time’...” (3/28)
“Has anyone here ever drank a pint of tequila? I know it’s a long shot” (3/28)
“A pint of tequila? That’s a long shot” (3/28)
“The U.S. should add three more states. Because 53 is a prime number. Then they can truly be one nation, indivisible” (3/28)
“My love for the truth outweighs my fear of offending you” (3/28)
More new entries...

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z


Entry from June 07, 2010
Din-din (dinner)

“Din-din” is a child’s way of saying “dinner.” “Din-din” is cited in print from at least 1861 and appeared first in English (and not American) publications.
 
“Morris! Time for din-din!” is a line from a Purina Cat Chow commercial featuring Morris, the cat.
   
 
YourDictionary.com
din·-din (din′din′)
noun
Informal dinner: orig., a child’s word
 
(Oxford English Dictionary)
din-din
colloq.
[Childish or jocular reduplication of DIN(NER n.]
Dinner.
1905 E. M. FORSTER Where Angels fear to Tread ii. 47 ‘Din-din’s nearly ready,’ said Lilia.
1920 WODEHOUSE Summer Lightning xiii. 265 ‘Come along, Carmody. Din~dins.’ Hugo had sunk into a chair. ‘I don’t want any dinner,’ he said, dully.
1957 E. TAYLOR Angel v. 220 Must be time for dindins, madam.
   
Google Boks
2 November 1861, Chambers’s Journal, pg. 284, col. 2:
“I want to see the lions have their din-din,” exclaimed Emilius John; nor was he by any means singular in that desire.
 
Google Books
John Holdsworth: chief mate
By William Clark Russell
London: S. Low Marston, Low, & Searle
1875
Pg. 175:
But though he repeated his question in different shapes, the child invariably answered “Noo, mamma got no din-din.”
 
“No dinner at all! Are you sure, my pet?”
       
Google Books
March 1885, Our Waifs and Strays, pg. 6, col. 2:
“Sam,” said Lizzie, by and by, “what’s we going to have for din-din. Me wants mine din-din.”
Then the boy broke into a passion of tears.
“We’ve got nothing for dinner, Lizzie.”
 
Google Books
Marcella
By Mrs. Humphry Ward
New York, NY: Macmillan and Co.
1894  
Pg. 199:
“Mama ! din-din !”
 
Google Books
August 1895, The English Illustrated Magazine, “A Brave Little Lass” by Mary Gaunt, pg. 468, col. 1:
“I wants my din-din! I wants my din-din!”
 
Google Books
Where angels fear to tread
By Edward Morgan Forster
Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons
1905
Pg. 47:
Well, din-din’s nearly ready,” said Lilia.
 
Families.com
Morris The Cat: One Finicky Feline
by Marjorie Dorfman
03 Sep 2006
(...)
His fame grew quickly and Americans loved the finicky cat that was always in need of a “din-din” comprised solely of Purina Cat food.

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityFood/Drink • Monday, June 07, 2010 • Permalink


Commenting is not available in this channel entry.