Amscray

The odd word in this panel from a “Patsy and Hedy” comic made me pause for thought. Even more so when the very next day I came across this panel in a current “Birds of Prey” comic. Hedy in the 1960s and Lady Blackhawk in 2011 are using what seems to me to be outmoded slang from the 1940s. Perhaps Hedy can be excused because the words are being put in her mouth by Stan Lee. Perhaps Zinda can be excused as she was frozen in a block of ice for 45 years…or was that Captain America?…. “Pig Latin” is very much American slang and has nothing at all to do with Latin. It is/was just about making normal words sound foreign by moving the first letter of a word to the end and adding “ay”. So “nix” becomes “ixnay” and “scram” becomes “amscray”. I vaguely recall the Three Stooges using those words but “ombtay” is a new one on me………

PS: It’s funny how once you become aware of something you seem to notice more examples. Spotted this one today.