Saturday, January 22, 2022
Cruel and Wicked
Herman Melville (1819-1891), White-Jacket, Chapter XXXII ("A Dish of Dunderfunk"):
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"Well, sir, what now?" said the Lieutenant of the Deck, advancing.I was born and raised Down East, but I never heard the phrase "cruel nice," so far as I can recall. On the other hand, I often heard and uttered the analogous phrase "wicked good."
"They stole it, sir; all my nice dunderfunk, sir; they did, sir," whined the Down Easter, ruefully holding up his pan. "Stole your dunderfunk! what's that?"
"Dunderfunk, sir, dunderfunk; a cruel nice dish as ever man put into him."
"Speak out, sir; what's the matter?"
"My dunderfunk, sir—as elegant a dish of dunderfunk as you ever see, sir—they stole it, sir!"
