AboutTed Nesbitt Expertise I have an interest in the meanings of words and phrases, as well as how and when they became part of the English language. I enjoy
researching idioms, colloquialisms, dialects, and obscurities of
all kinds. I prefer short questions on a particular subject, and
I will not accept lengthy research projects or term papers. NOTE: ALLEXPERTS CLAIMS THAT I TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LATIN AND FROM LATIN TO ENGLISH. I DO NOT. ALLEXPERTS REFUSES TO DELETE THE LATIN-TO-ENGLISH SERVICE -- ONE THAT I DO NOT PROVIDE.
TRUST ME ON THIS: ALLEXPERTS IS WRONG. I DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LANGUAGE. LOOK FOR A LANGUAGE EXPERT INSTEAD. ETYMOLOGY AND TRANSLATING SERVICES ARE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. ALLEXPERTS SHOULD KNOW THAT. ALLEXPERTS DOES NOT KNOW THAT. I HAVE TRIED FOR MANY YEARS TO GET THEM TO CHANGE. THEY WILL NOT. SORRY, BUT I DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LATIN.
Experience I am the bibliographic instruction and reference librarian at a public
college. My master's thesis concerns William Faulkner's tragic novels. I formerly taught advanced placement English at two schools in the Philadelphia area.
I have been a member of the grammar and writing section of Allexperts
for more than a year.
Education/Credentials Masters degrees in English, philosophy, and library science.
Question I'm a reporter trying to track down this idiom. Obviously, it's originally the title of a song. And I've tracked the history of the song -- an interesting one. But when/how did this song, out of all the folk songs of the era, become the symbol for fake conviviality?
As in: "We aren't going to just sit around and sing "Kumbaya,' are we?"
Jeffrey Weiss
The Dallas Morning News
jweiss@dallasnews.com
Answer Jeffrey:
Dear Jeffrey:
I couldn't find a personal e-mail address for you at "The Dallas Morning News," but I have been reading your columns, including "Tracing the origins of 'Kumbaya'" on October 5, 2006.
The last time I spent a great deal of time doing research for a journalist, it was about "There Oughta Be a Law." I was contacted by the producer of CNN's "Paula Zahn Show." Before it was all over, United Features Syndicate, the Milton Caniff Comics/Cartoon Library of Ohio State University, and a few distraught librarians [in addition to myself] -- were all involved in a story that never really aired. I won't go into the details.
Anyway, I came to work two hours early this afternoon and can now report the following negatives:
The word does NOT appear in "The Oxford English Dictionary," "The Dictionary of American Regional English,"[Harvard] or "The Random House Dictionary of American Slang." I also checked more than thirty dictionaries of idioms, slang expressions, and jargon. Finally, we have three unabridged dictionaries -- all recent editions -- and the word is not included.
You already know the meaning of the word, so definitions from dictionaries would provide only a "clue" about how the spiritual's title took on a "saccharine" and negative meeting.
I went back through the "New York Times Historical Database," and found sixty-six [66] articles with the spellings of "kumbaya" or "cumbaya."
Here are the significant -- and earliest -- instances of possible "negativity" --
NOTE: All of the following material appeared in "The New York Times," except for the July 14, 1990 article.
October 15, 1989 -- a piece, based on an interview with Tracey Ullman, "Make a Face: Tracy Ullman."
Though her husband frequently commutes to London on business, Ullman doesn't miss working in her native land. "I don't want to be back in England being offered 40 pounds a week by the BBC to do a movie in Northern Ireland, or going off with the Left Wing Theatre to Nicaragua singing 'Kumbaya.'"
July 14, 1990 -- "The Oregonian" (Portland) "Comic Saget Bombs on Tape, Flies in Person," by Peter Farrell, page c11 -- [His new HBO special, the taped version, was not well-received by 100 TV reviewers.] He kept saying he was sorry, as if to apologize to everyone in the audience individually. "Did someone say I should be sorry? Yeah, you said it. Go ahead, smack me. Say it now. Go ahead! It's a group-hug thing. We'll sing 'Kumbaya' at the end."
October 24, 1994 -- "In Pennsylvania, Round 2 on Health," by Katharine Q. Seelye, pages A1 and A24 -- About the senatorial race between Sen. Harris Wofford and challenger Rick Santorum -- "The candidates' differences were crisply caught during a recent radio debate in Pittsburgh. Mr. Wofford was reflecting on the national service law he heped enact and how it would help students pay for college, much like the G. I. Bill, when Mr. Santorum erupted: 'Somebody is going to do one year of community service picking up trash in a park and singing 'Kumbaya' around a campfire, and you're going to give them the equivalent of a G. I. Bill!'"
February 12, 1995 -- "The Counter Counterculture," by James Atlas, [beginning on page SM32] -- [Conservatives were meeting in David Brock's Georgetown town house -- the author lists the attendees, on of whom was Laura Ingraham.] "As we sat in the bar of the Tabard Inn knocking back big glasses of Sambuca ('Should we all sing 'Kumbaya'?" suggested Ingraham), she entertained us with stories of her adventures in El Salvador during the mid-80's. What was she doing there? I asked. 'Subjugating third-world nations,' she said with a dry laugh."
November 11, 2003 -- :Among the Totem Poles, An Unusual Gather," by Timothy Egan. [About former President Clinton's hosting Asian leaders at a Puget Sound "retreat."] "Smooth sailing," Mr. Clinton said as he led the leaders single-file off the passenger ferry Tyee and into the lodge. "I don't now if they are going to be holding hands and singing 'Kumbaya,' but this is just what the President had in mind," said Lorraine Voles, a White House spokeswoman. "This all about getting to know each other."
****
I apologize for typos. We're very busy tonight, and the students are not very "patient." I will send a copy of this message to the Allexperts site. Hopefully, you'll get one of the messages.
Ted Nesbitt
Bibliographic Instructor
Paul N. Elbin Library
West Liberty State College
West Liberty, WV - 26074
*************
I wish I had received your question a few hours earlier. I left work -- in a college library -- and I'm at home now, unable to access either LexisNexis or "The Oxford English Dictionary" online.
I have checked a number of sources that are available to me, including the Phrase Finder from Sheffield University in England, Michael Quinion's "World Wide Words," and a number of online dictionaries.
The most informative article I discovered is posted at the blog for The Chicago Tribune, and I'm giving you the URL below.
Since you have already researched the history, I'm not going into Frye's "hymn," and the Gullah controversy [they are mentioned at the CT blog].
When Joan Baez was singing "Kumbaya" in the 1960s, the song and the word still had positive, touchy-feely connotations.
By 1992, however, the negative connotations had already become attached to the word.
For instance, it was used frequently by "Eek the Cat."
"Eek! The Cat is an American animated series, created by Savage Steve Holland and Bill Kopp, that ran from 1992 to 1997 on the now defunct Fox Kids Saturday Morning block."
I also found this online reference from one of the dictionaries -- "Popular usage --
It is a standard campfire song in Scouting, YMCA, the Indian Guides, and others. Though the song was originally associated with unity and closeness, it is now usually referenced with ironic intent today. For example, "Although Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens will play together in 2005, don't expect them to be singing Kumbaya."
Eric Zorn's column in The Chicago Tribute on August 31 of this year discusses how far the negative connotations and absurdities of the song have been taken, since it is now used for a Bazooka Bubblegum commercial.
It has also been used in other commercials, including Toys R Us.
It's been a few years since anyone from "The Dallas Morning News" has contacted me, so I really wish I could give you more exact information. I will not be back in the library until Sunday evening. I could continue to search for information, if your deadline has not been met.
You can reach me at this number on Sunday -- (304) 336-8261.
I have the greatest admiration for reporters who try to "ferret out" the exact information . . . with great detail.
In the meantime, browse through "The Chicago Tribune" blog at this URL:
You also might call the public library in Dallas or one of the universities and ask them to check "The Oxford English Dictionary." They would need to refer to the "updates," and NOT the original 20-volume set.
The problem is that the negative connotations might NOT be used in England, and the OED -- although giving some "universal" coverage -- is still focused on UK usage.
The regional U. S. dictionaries from Harvard and Random House are sources I can check on Sunday night. There are also a number of slang or jargon dictionaries that are very recent and might have a new entry for "kumbaya."
Let me know what you want me to do, and I'll do my best.
And, Jeffrey, use this e-mail address to get back to me:
