Hi Paul, Raspberry Tony (Himbeertoni) is a jesting and cuss word of the Austro-Bavarian language. The etymology is absolutely unclear, neither old references are found. Schmeller's Bavarian dictionary of 1827 doesn't know him yet.
A Raspberry Tony is a person of very limited intellect, that is so excessively good-natured, that he put up with everything and is easy to short-change. There are in my opinion three possibilities of the origin: Either it's a literary character (of a forgotten piece), or it's the characterization by profession - somebody who is of such an imbecility, that he can earn his living only by collecting and selling raspberries, or it's a humorous derivation from the Strawberry George (often appearing as the boon companion of the Raspberry Tony). The Strawberry George in turn is a mishearing of the "archbishop", In German "Erzbischof" which sounds similar to "Erbeerschorsch". ("Erdbeer(e)" ("Ground"berry) is the Strawberry, "Schorsch" is the Bavarian form of George). Best! Martin -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: meteorite-list-boun...@meteoritecentral.com [mailto:meteorite-list-boun...@meteoritecentral.com] Im Auftrag von Paul Gessler Gesendet: Sonntag, 2. Juni 2013 06:04 An: meteorite-list Betreff: [meteorite-list] what is a... Can someone please tell me what a "Raspberry Tony" is????? Thanx Paul Gessler ______________________________________________ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list ______________________________________________ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list