And they call it "Tom Swiftie" because...

[Amanda Lewanski]

My mother told me of Tom Swifties, many moons ago, so long ago that I
didn't remember the details. But I have found this, for those who want
to know. The URL for the site where I lifted the info follows it, in
case anyone wishes to follow up.

--Amanda

<begin lifted material defining and explaining nomenclature "Tom
Swiftie">

Not many dictionaries define "Tom Swifty".  One that does is _The
Random House Dictionary of the English Language_ (1966):

Tom Swiftie,  a play on words that follows an unvarying
pattern and relies for its humor on a punning relationship
between the way an adverb describes a speaker and at the
same time refers significantly to the import of the
speaker's statement, as in _"I know who turned off the
lights," Tom hinted darkly._ [named after a narrative
mannerism characteristic of the _Tom Swift_ American
series of adventure novels for boys]

In actual use, "Tom Swifty" seems to have a somewhat broader
meaning, and includes the form christened "croakers" by Roy
Bongartz, wherein a verb rather than an adverb supplies the pun
(e.g. "I'm dying", he croaked).

"Who is this Tom Swifty character anyway?" asked Tom
unselfconsciously.

Tom Swift was the brainchild of Edward L. Stratemeyer (1862-1930).
Stratemeyer first used the name "Tom Swift" for the title character
in "Shorthand Tom; or, the exploits of a young reporter", serialized
in 1894.  Sixteen years later he re-used the name for a new
character, an ingenious youth whose amazing scientific inventions
and discoveries would carry him to weird and wonderful places.  The
Tom Swift adventure series, which was published under the pseudonym
Victor Appleton, began with _Tom Swift and his motor-cycle; or Fun
and Adventure on the road_ in 1910, and continued until 1935 (5
years after Stratemeyer's death!).  Stratemeyer was also the creator
of the Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and other
lesser-known series.  Stratemeyer only supplied the characters and
the (repetitive) plots for his books; he had a syndicate of some
20 hack writers to do the actual writing.  After his death the
syndicate was taken over by his daughter, Harriet S. Adams, who in
1954 started the "Tom Swift, Jr." series under the pseudonym Victor
Appleton II.

The "narrative mannerism" that the Random House Dictionary mentions
was not the Tom Swifty as such, but merely the laboured avoidance of
the unadorned use of the word "said".  Tom never merely "said"
anything; he asserted, asseverated, averred, chuckled, declared,
ejaculated, expostulated, grinned (plainly or mischievously),
groaned, quipped, or smiled.  In particular, sentences of the form:
"---", Tom said ---ly.
were used ad nauseam.  Then one day day someone decided to satirize
the mannerism by using puns, and the Tom Swifty was born.

I am ignorant of who first used the humorous form of Tom Swifty, or
of whether the form is older than the name.  I seem to recall once
reading that "'One or two lumps?' she asked sweetly" dates from the
early part of this century, but I have lost the reference.  Perhaps
it was Dorothy Parker or one of her fellow Algonquin wits, who were
fond of a game called "Give me a sentence", where the challenged
party had to supply a sentence punning on a given word.  I would be
most grateful to anyone who could help me fill in the gaps here.

<end lifted mat'l>
URL of origin: http://www.floaty.com/~jonathan/library/jonathan/swifties