'Rube' Comes Back Around?

'Rube' as a word, got used in the past month by a Washington Post journalist....to describe the people voting for President Trump in 2016.  This was a chatter episode which was supposed to explain to naive or innocent folks.....how so many folks got stupid and voted that way. 

For those who aren't familiar with 'Rube'....a little history lesson.

To be honest, it hasn't been used to any significant degree since the 1930s (that was probably the peak). 'Rube' Waddell is where most folks remember the word.  Waddell was one of the premier pitchers of the American League,  Pitching from 1897 to 1910....he was probably one of the five best pitchers in the league, and was washed-up by age 33.  Roughly four years later, he'd pass away.  In simple terms, Waddell was a nutcase.  Everytime a fire truck would pass a stadium in the midst of a game that he was pitching.....it was a 50-50 possibility that he'd take off after the fire truck and leave the game.

The term 'Rube' was supposed to be a county guy with no real recognition of the big world, and bound with 'innocence'. 

Generally, it's said that Rube came from the early 1800s, and was supposed to be slang to identify a guy without class, or one with no sophistication....in simple terms.....a non-intellectual.

But here's the funny thing about the term, it's not really been used for almost eighty years.  In terms of slang-value, it's been dead since the 1950s.  You could bring up the term with folks who are over sixty, and they have a basic idea of the term.  Someone who was 20 to 30 years old?  There might be one person out a dozen who has heard of the word or has some idea of the meaning.

So where did the journalist dig the term up?  Unknown.

Does this mean we are reverting back to some 1920s slangs?  Let's talk about some of these:

1.  'Giggle Water'.  That's something with an alcoholic punch to it. 

2.  'Hay Burner'.  That's a car that gets exceptionally poor mileage.....like less than ten miles to the gallon.

3.  'Ms Grundy'.  A 'dame' who has an exceptional number of personal rules, and questions anything related to fun.

4.  'Sheba'.  A 'dame' who is exceptionally fit, in loose clothing, and dangles a cigarette from her lips....suggesting to 'blow this joint' (to leave the bar), and do unimaginable things in a hay-barn down the road.

5.  'Bearcat'.  A 'dame' who is fairly dangerous when 'juiced-up' (drinking), who might show fits of rage or assault, if a guy wasn't careful. 

You have to wonder if this journalist is trying to lead folks back around to three-hundred-odd phrases which died in the 1930s.