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I've got a lovin' daddy

Posted by Prakash on March 15, 2003

In Reply to: I've got a lovin' daddy posted by ESC on March 15, 2003

: : Is this "daddy" thing specific to blacks?

: Yes, but not exclusive to Black English.

: daddy - "a male lover, 1912; sugar daddy, 1918; big daddy, a male who gives women a sense of security, as a protective, aggressive older man, popularized in Tennessee Williams' 1955 Pulitzer Prize winning play 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'." From I Hear America Talking: An Illustrated History of American Words and Phrases by Stuart Berg Flexner (Von Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1976).

: Another reference dates the use of "daddy" back to the 1600s. "daddy n. 1. (used esp. in direct address to refer to an older man). (The speakers of 1682 quot. are prostitutes who also use the word 'papa'.1681 in Otway 'Words II' 106: We might be dead for all of you, you naughty Dady, you.3a. a male lover, boyfriend, or husband (esp.) the lover and protector of a prostitute; pimp. 1909 (A song) I've got a lovin daddy/who cert'nly can love sweet.3b (Esp. Southern & Black English) - sweetheart - used in direct address to a man." From Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume 1, A-G by J.E. Lighter, Random House, New York, 1994

Thanks, this is it!

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