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Help[Facts] Re: Corky (derivation)
in reply to a message by nomenphile
Corky usually isn't "short" for anything. By Googling I have found examples of people called Corky whose first names are Coralynn and Courtland, or whose last names are Corcoran or McCorquodale, but most of the examples where it's explained trace the nickname back to the character Corky Wallet in the long-running American newspaper comic strip "Gasoline Alley". This strip was famous for being one of the first where characters aged along with the strip and where new kids were born into the family. The character Corky Wallet was introduced as a newborn in this strip in May 1928. I've found at least one example of a real person born in 1928 who was given the nickname Corky while still an infant because a relative thought the new baby looked like the baby in the comic strip. Several others say they were called Corky because of the comic strip character but don't explain further.
Unfortunately, so far I can't find any explanation of why the author of the comic strip chose Corky as the name for the character.
In the early 1950s there were two films made based on the comic strip where Corky was a main character; these also probably helped to bring the name to people's attention.
http://www.classicflix.com/gasoline-alley-friends-gasoline-alley-were-walkie-talkie-corky-gasoline-alley-stop-that-leave-marines-p-8103.html
http://www.amazon.com/Gasoline-Alley-Friends-Scotty-Beckett/dp/B001NG41ZU
Unfortunately, so far I can't find any explanation of why the author of the comic strip chose Corky as the name for the character.
In the early 1950s there were two films made based on the comic strip where Corky was a main character; these also probably helped to bring the name to people's attention.
http://www.classicflix.com/gasoline-alley-friends-gasoline-alley-were-walkie-talkie-corky-gasoline-alley-stop-that-leave-marines-p-8103.html
http://www.amazon.com/Gasoline-Alley-Friends-Scotty-Beckett/dp/B001NG41ZU
This message was edited 2/7/2010, 5:18 PM
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Replies
I'm not familiar with the comic strip, but a corker is, colloquially, someone or something absolutely top-notch. Just what people tend to think about their new babies.
I was at school with someone with the surname Kork who was known as Korky; that could be another possibility. And I also once knew a man whose surname was Thorpe: his nickname was also Corky which he thought was a half-rhyme for Thorpy. His given names were irrelevant!
I was at school with someone with the surname Kork who was known as Korky; that could be another possibility. And I also once knew a man whose surname was Thorpe: his nickname was also Corky which he thought was a half-rhyme for Thorpy. His given names were irrelevant!
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Thanks for pointing that out. "Corker" may be what the authors of the strip were thinking about back in 1928.
However, that wouldn't be obvious to most people in the USA today because I think "corker" is almost obsolete as an everyday slang term in this country. The only recent examples of its use I could quickly find on line were from Australia or the UK, and the Princeton online dictionary calls it "dated slang". :)
So thanks again for pointing it out.
However, that wouldn't be obvious to most people in the USA today because I think "corker" is almost obsolete as an everyday slang term in this country. The only recent examples of its use I could quickly find on line were from Australia or the UK, and the Princeton online dictionary calls it "dated slang". :)
So thanks again for pointing it out.
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Thanks for the informative answer. :)
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I have and uncle that went by Corky whose given name was Lawrence. I asked my father and he said his younger brother was called that “...because he was such a corker.” So I agree with the buoyant bouncy definition.
He started going by Larry by the time I met him for the first time but my father still slipped and called him Corky.
He started going by Larry by the time I met him for the first time but my father still slipped and called him Corky.
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