pumpkin lily

n. an effete or unskilled person; a novice. Also punkin lily. Subjects: English, Derogatory

Editorial Note: Nearly all discovered uses this term, including the 1922 and 1958 citations below, come from descriptions of Teddy Roosevelt, then aged 25, at the time of his 1883 visit to the Dakota Badlands, where he was perceived as a dude ‘an effete or refined man; a city person.’ Etymological Note: Possibly related to a variety of similar terms with similar meanings given by DARE and HDAS, including punkin ‘a (country) bumpkin; a rustic’; pumpkin roller ‘a rustic; a greenhorn’; pumpkin head ‘a foolish or stupid person’; lily ‘an effeminate boy or homosexual man; a naive or innocent person.’

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Citations: 1922 Youth’s Companion (Apr. 6) “Diversions of the Round-Up” p. 200: Some of those Eastern punkin-lilies now, those goody-goody fellows, if they’d ever get throwed off, you’d never hear the last of it. He didn’t care a bit. If he got throwed off, he’d get right on again. 1958 Victor W. Zierke Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wisc.) (Nov. 29) “Teddy Roosevelt Nation’s Youngest President” p. 6: Such snide remarks as “eastern pumpkin lily” and “four-eyed dude” and less printable ones kept him in fighting trim. 1986 John Jakes The Americans (Oct. 15) p. 209: Yoo-hoo in there, you Eastern punkin lilies!…This here’s rough country. Better skedaddle back where you came from.

Posted 17 Apr 06 | Permalink | Tell a Friend