Why is Long John Silver's called "Long John Silvers"? Long. John. Silvers. I mean, really*?
Is it because John was known for being very long ... in patience, let's say? Could it have been a rallying cry used by pirates during the Age of Exploration? Like, "Long live the king!" or "Long John Silvers!" Has someone ever messed it up and said, "Long John's Silver!" instead? Or is it an anagram for something like, "JS—I'll veg no horns," a cryptic in-phrase used by vegetarians from the hood when they want to eat seafood, (for as we all know, the "JS," similar in usage to PS, stands for "jive secret," or for the uninitiated "just saying").
What do you think?
(* Note: I'm aware of the name's connection to a certain work by Robert Louis Stevenson. No need to point that out, thank you. This is an absurdist thought experiment—play along!)
Long John Silvers - referes to the long lines to the bathroom after eating at LJS. Trust me I know. I have to have my LJS fix every six months or so....
ReplyDeleteIs that because it takes you 5 months 29 days 23 hours and 59 minutes to make it through the line? You know, there are other bathrooms....
ReplyDeleteSorry, I had to post these. Too good to be left to the void of Google Buzz!
ReplyDeleteAdam Crockett - It's clearly a permutation of one of the original riding lawn mowers. The Lawn John (Silver). This chrome, top-of-the-line mower was so popular that a small fried fish establishment tried a new piggyback marketing technique. It was here that the first Lawn John (Silver) was included with the 2800 piece plantation family meal. The two became synonymous. "Jeb, where can I get one'a dem Lawn John (Silver)s?"
Lance Wright - Didn't John Deer almost sue over that fiasco? I seem to recall some early American settlers complaining about "long john slivers," so the name may be a bastardization of this phrase. These slivers were a common side-effect when one forgetful underwear-washing frontiersman would set his long underwear out to dry on a stump or roughshod wooden pole/hitching post, then come morning he'd slip the garment on and be heard to cry out, "OH, LONG JOHN SLIVERS!"
Jeremy Hatzell - John Silver was a 19th century englishman who became a bit of a folk hero. Despite racking up huge debts, he always was able to avoid debtor's prison. Some said he bribed the judges (although it was never explained how he got enough money to bribe a judge). Others said that he used black magic. Finally, his creditors brought him before Judge Clarence Grayson. Lord Grayson was known to show no mercy to debtors. The night before the trial, John Silver stole aboard a ship and sailed to America with Grayson's daughter. It was a famous scandal that made all the papers. "So long, John Silver!" became a popular saying of that day. John Silver died of consumption shortly after coming to America. His son, John Silver II, opened a small fish and chips stand in Hartford Connecticut in 1902 using his mother's recipe. He named it Long John Silvers in honor of his father.