[or-roots] Snap Your Sprocket

[Connie Guardino]

Interesting discussion. My late husband's father, George A. "Dell" Hodges (1887-1969 born Cougar Mountain)
was 54 years old when Del was born. There was a "skipped" generation because of the age factor. Dell Hodges
was an old-fasioned farmer and fur trapper. I adopted some of his sayings, some of which were quite colorful
and descriptive: "crazier than a crap house rat" is one of my favorites, followed by "worthless as tits on a
bull." Then there's "I don't know whether to shit or go blind." "Let's make like a hoop and roll out of here"
was a blander one. I agree that "snap your sprocket" is akin to "knock your block off."

Kith-n-Kin wrote:

> And, don't forget a sprocket wrench, which as I recall had to do with bicycles.  Oh, here, I looked it up.
>
> "Sprocket - a toothed wheel that engages a chain. Freewheels consist of one or more sprockets. A 15-speed
> bike will have three sprockets on the chainwheel, and six sprockets on the freewheel. Synonym: cog.  Some
> people will also call sprockets "gears."
>
> "Sprocket wrench - a tool to remove sprockets from a freewheel.  There are several forms of sprocket
> wrenches.  Some are a bar with a length of bicycle chain attached.  Others are hooks that engage one or
> more sprocket teeth."
>
> So, my take was that "snap your sprocket" had to do with what happens when you use a sprocket wrench
> without care <G>.  Don't know about the thump on the head, though.
>
> Otherwise, to me sprockets are the projections on little guide wheels on a movie projector -- what goes in
> the "sprocket holes".  Again -- where is the thump on the head.
>
> So, I agree with Les - knock your block off one way or t'other.
>
> Pat (in Tucson)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: or-roots-admin at sosinet.sos.state.or.us
> [mailto:or-roots-admin at sosinet.sos.state.or.us] On Behalf Of
> Leslie Chapman
> Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2004 18:05
> To: or-roots at sosinet.sos.state.or.us
> Subject: [or-roots] snap your Sprocket
>
> Laura;
>
> That expression is a new to me, and my father was 46 when i was
> born and I know the meaning of most of the slang he used as
> well as a good portion of the slang from the last fifty years.
> I tried the expression online and came up void. Sprocked itself
> so far has turned up an Aussie expression directly related to
> bicycling, thousands of hits associated with bike/motorcycle
> parts, one phallic reference; pocket sprocket which "might" be
> associated with what you father was trying to say as I can
> think of any number of expressions that could be implied with
> the words "snap your sprocket", there is also a slang term
> "popped a sprocket" but it is related to computer hardware,
> specifically lanport problems, so unless you are about minus
> twenty years old it probably isn't relevant to your question.
>
> Here is a defintion of sprocket that might be meaningful;
>
> sprocket - 1536, originally a carpenters' word for a piece of
> timber used in framing, of unknown origin. The meaning
> "projection from the rim of a wheel that engages the links of a
> chain" is first recorded 1750.
>
> Now since they don't go into any detail in defining; "piece of
> timber used in framing" let us just suppose it is specifically
> a short piece such as a fire break which is the cross piece you
> see nailed between two studs in a wall, or  the even shorter
> pieces that are nailed in between window and door headers; in
> another words "a block" hence "snap your sprocket" would be
> another way of saying "knock your block off" which from what
> you have described, which I believe I have heard elsewhere
> referred to as a "brain duster," sounds very much like the same thing.
>
> Sprocket Opera is apparently a slang term for a film festival,
> given the other definitions I have found for sprocket I don't
> even want to think about that one.
>
> I am of course not an etymologyst, but I really think knock
> your block off is what he was implying.
>
> Les Chapman
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: or-roots-admin at sosinet.sos.state.or.us
> [mailto:or-roots-admin at sosinet.sos.state.or.us]On Behalf Of LMA
> Project_Managers
> Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2004 9:12 AM
> To: or-roots at sosinet.sos.state.or.us
> Subject: Re: [or-roots] Humour in the 1840-50's
>
> Have any of you out there ever heard the term "Snap your
> Sprocket?" My dad, who was 47 when I was born, had a lot of
> these sayings and because he was an older father I didn't hear
> the sayings from any other fathers. So I never knew if he made
> them up or if it was an old timey slang.
>
> Anyway, if we were misbehaving as children or bothering my dad
> in some way- he'd say "I'm going to Snap your Sprocket." Then
> he'd thump us on the head by flicking his middle finger away
> from his thumb. It HURT too. You had to learn to get moving if
> he said that before he could actually make good on his threat.  Thanks.
>
> I can't ask him this now because he passed away two years ago at 90.
>
> Thanks,
> Laura
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