... about the phrase "salty dog?"
I've enjoyed The Andy Griffith Show for years. I guess I've seen every episode, and there was at least one occasion when the Darlings, a family from back in the hills, came into some money and decided to go to Mayberry to find brides for the four young unmarried men in the family.
They wound up at Andy's house, where the whole family (including Andy on guitar) played "Salty Dog Blues," a folk song that apparently had been recorded by many people long before.
I happened to see that episode this afternoon and found the story to be rather lame. Just about every time the Darling family appeared on the show, Andy outwitted them using their own mountain superstitions — and it was funnier the first few times when Barney was part of the show.
And the music wasn't a new angle. Every time the Darlings were on the show, they had their instruments with them. Their sister did the singing, and their father kept time with his jug.
I don't remember the titles of the songs they sang on the other episodes, but I've always remembered the phrase "salty dog." I just didn't know what it meant.
Oh, I had my ideas about what it meant, but, today, I finally decided to consult Wikipedia, which is not always a reliable authority so I try to double– or triple–check Wikipedia's information whenever possible if I feel it necessary to use it as a source.
In this case, though, I think the information I got was accurate. If I can verify it, I will, but it appeared to confirm my suspicions, which leads me to believe it is something that someone I trusted must have told me at one time. I just can't remember who it was or when he/she told me.
Anyway, a salty dog apparently is something of a combination of nautical slang terms. Someone who is salty is someone who has quite a bit of experience at sea.
A salty individual, Wikipedia also observes, could also be ornery. I won't argue that point. I've heard many people described as "salty."
(And Wikipedia mentions something that I hadn't heard before. If anyone knows how to verify this, please let me know:
("A U.S. Marine or sailor who had been aboard a Navy vessel for an extended period in earlier times would clean his battle dress uniform by throwing it overboard in a mesh bag to be dragged along the ship's hull." Yep, that would tend to make one salty.)
The meaning of the term dog is less clear, but I always gathered, in this context, that a dog was someone who was faithful, reliable, dependable. Perhaps I had this impression because, when I was about to turn 17, my best friend and I drove to St. Louis to spend Thanksgiving with his brother and sister–in–law. While we were there, his brother introduced us to a slang term with which neither of us was familiar.
We were, he told us, each other's "road dogs." Like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Or Abbott and Costello if you prefer. Partners. Equals who would defend each other — at times comically but always sincerely.
I guess that also made us salty dogs because, if Wikipedia is right, salty dog need not have any sexual meaning.
Even so, the words of the song certainly implied that something sexual was going on — although they were sufficiently neutral that either a male or a female could sing the song with a few adjustments in the wording.
"Honey let me be your salty dog
"Let me be your salty dog
Or I won't be your man at all
Honey let me be your salty dog
"Look it here Sal, I know you
Run down stocking and a wore out shoe
Honey let me be your salty dog
"Let me be your salty dog
Or I won't be your man at all
Honey let me be your salty dog
"Down in the wildwood sitting on a log
Finger on the trigger and an eye on the hog
Honey let me be your salty dog
"Let me be your salty dog
Or I won't be your man at all
Honey let me be your salty dog
"Well I pulled the trigger and the gun set go
The shot gun over in Mexico
Honey let me be your salty dog
"Let me be your salty dog
Or I won't be your man at all
Honey let me be your salty dog"
Wikipedia asserts that the implication is that the singer wants to be the listener's sexual partner. But the phrase, Wikipedia says, "comes from the term sea dog, or a horny sailor."
