On this day in 1963…
Time Magazine sponsored a Best Tom Swifty Contest.
From 1910 to 1941, Victor Appleton wrote a series of books featuring the main character, Tom Swift. These were published by Grosset & Dunlap, and select titles were later re-published by Whitman Publishing Company. I find this a bit ironic given that Walt Whitman was also born on May 31.
A “Tom Swifty” or “Tom Swifties” became a special kind of pun in literature mainly due to the author’s tendency to color the verb “said” with an adverb. At times, Appleton replaced the verb said with a humorous tag that related to the actual dialog spoken or replaced the proper noun with another descriptive noun. Here are a few examples from The Canonical Collection of Tom Swifties:
“I got a snapshot of the CBS anchorman, but I haven’t developed it yet,” said Tom, rather negatively.
“I’ve just changed a dozen mufflers,” said Tom, exhausted.
“Let’s kill him”, said the executive.
The Canonical Collection of Tom Swifties
Get 25 Complete Tom Swift Novels here for $0.99
Turkey City Lexicon & Tom Swifty
The Turkey City Lexicon describes Tom Swifties as,
“An unseemly compulsion to follow the word ‘said’ with a colorful adverb, as in: ‘We’d better hurry,’ Tom said swiftly.
This was a standard mannerism of the old Tom Swift adventure dime-novels. Good dialogue can stand on its own without a clutter of adverbial props.”
https://www.sfwa.org/2009/06/turkey-city-lexicon-a-primer-for-sf-workshops/
I’ve heard this feedback before in several critique sessions where some fellow fantasy or science-fiction writers complain about adverb usage. The problem with the Turkey City Lexicon’s definition is that it doesn’t allow for the pun that is inherent to a Tom Swifty. I tend to agree that adverbs can be crutches, but they are sometimes necessary. After all, there is a reason they exist in the English language.
Have a favorite Tom Swifty?
Drop down to the bottom of this page and share your favorite Tom Swifties in the comments!
Also on this day in 1819…
Walt Whitman was born.
Walt Whitman became an indie publisher long before it became so accessible with services like Create Space, KDP, Ingram Spark, Lulu, and others with his first edition of Leaves of Grass, self-published in 1855.
The Annenberg Foundation has a wealth of information about this American poetic visionary. The Foundation describes Walt Whitman as,
” the first major poet to create a truly American vision and style. His extraordinary example gave American verse much of its subsequent character and diction. Rejecting traditional constraints of form and subject matter, Whitman considered democracy itself appropriate grist for his own poetic mill, inventing a radically different sort of free verse to express what he had to say.”
http://www.learner.org/catalog/extras/vvspot/Whitman.html
Comments (1)
Wow. A lot of great info here. Thanks for the links!