vamp

Use this forum to suggest Good Words for Professor Beard.
eberntson
Lexiterian
Posts: 457
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2005 10:48 am
Location: Cambridge, Mass
Contact:

vamp

Postby eberntson » Fri Jul 26, 2013 3:51 pm

From the song "I want to be bad" by Annette Hanshaw

...
If it's naughty to vamp the men,
Sleep each morning till after ten,
Let a lady confess, "Yes, I wanna be bad!".
...

The dictionaries seem to have the noun, parts of a shoe, or some other re-vamp, circa 1500's. The verb is what interests me, where is to take advantage of a man('s generosity). Oh my, all those innocent millionaires running around the early 1900's; poor lambs being misled by willy women. Me, break, give!

I wonder if Bram Stokers 1897 novel "Dracula" influenced this word, dare I say it, "resurrection"? Now that would be a very interesting trail to ferret out and prove. Also, the occult was in a major resurgence at the time when this verb and noun was on the rise, perhaps it roots are there too.
EBERNTSON
Fear less, hope more;
eat less, chew more;
whine less, breathe more;
talk less, say more,
and all good things will be yours.
--R. Burns

Perry Lassiter
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 3333
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
Location: RUSTON, LA
Contact:

Re: vamp

Postby Perry Lassiter » Fri Jul 26, 2013 4:56 pm

It's also used in music for a repeated riff, often as a band begins to play. Thus, "the jazz group vamped into an extended arrqngement of the Saints..."
pl

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8040
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Re: vamp

Postby Slava » Fri Jul 26, 2013 5:35 pm

I never knew the shoe or music parts, just the sultry, seductive woman bit.

Vamp has different meanings, with different lineages.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

Philip Hudson
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2784
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:41 am
Location: Texas

Re: vamp

Postby Philip Hudson » Fri Jul 26, 2013 11:54 pm

"She's Hard Hearted Hannah, the vamp of Savannah, GA!"
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.


Return to “Good Word Suggestions”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot], Google [Bot], Semrush [Bot] and 35 guests