Maybe you know it as perdiddle, but a Wisconsinite shares memories of playing padiddle. You need at least two people in a car, an oncoming vehicle with a headlight out, and, depending on which version of the game you play, you need to be prepared for kissing, punching, ceiling-thwacking, beer-buying, or stripping. Grant describes the Volkswagen-inspired of another road-trip game, slug bug. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Padiddle and Slug Bug”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, Martha and Grant?
Yes.
-oh.
This is Rick calling from Onalaska.
From where?
Onalaska, Wisconsin.
Oh, Onalaska?
Onalaska.
How do you spell that?
It’s like Alaska with on in front of it.
Huh.
O-N-On?
O-N-On.
O-N-On.
Well, I’ve got to tell you, I’ve never heard of the place.
Where is it? Tell me about it.
It’s near La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Okay. What’s on your mind today, Rick?
Actually, I’m calling about the origins of a word that I’ve known for probably 30 years or so.
It dates back to growing up over on the other side of Wisconsin in Appleton, Wisconsin.
The term is padiddle.
How are you spelling that?
I’m not sure.
P-A or P-I, but padiddle, D-I-D-D-L-E, something like that.
Now, what’s it mean?
Well, it was used when one or more people, typically more than one, would be driving in a vehicle going down the road, and the oncoming vehicle, be it a truck, car, whatever, would have one headlight burned out.
And what would follow would be the person, the first person to see it would yell, and then kind of whack the inside of the roof of the car with their hand.
And it was sort of like first one to see it, you know, one.
Right, right, right, right.
And a lot of people know about this, the pediddle.
Yeah, they do.
It’s just sort of generally accepted, a rite of passage.
You got to be about 16 in Wisconsin.
You got your driver’s license.
You saw a car with one headlight, and you said, Padiddle.
Yep.
And then you smacked the roof of your car.
Smacked the roof.
In triumph.
Yeah, and then after, in triumph, exactly.
And then somewhere along the line, I think once we got closer to the age of proper drinking age, it involved then the person who didn’t respond first owed the other person or people a beer.
Oh, wow.
And did you buy a lot of beers?
I was a pretty good Padiddle spotter.
So, pa-diddle.
Pa-diddle.
I’ve heard of this, and you know why?
Why?
When I was editing the Historical Dictionary of American Slang, I was working on Volume 3, which includes the letter P, and I worked on the entry for this.
You did?
I did.
Grant, you’re my hero.
Hello.
Yes.
You did the pa-diddle entry?
I’m hardly worth it.
It hasn’t been published yet.
Well, wait until you see my work to judge whether or not it’s worthy of praise.
Oh, my gosh. I can’t wait.
The earliest that we were able to trace this to was in the 1950s.
But what’s more interesting about this is that the game that you’re playing actually is a modified version of an older game.
And the older game was about kissing.
Oh, what?
So you’re driving down the road.
Yeah, you’re driving down the road with your sweetie, right?
Yeah.
And if you see a car with one headlight, you’re the man or the boy, and you say, pa-diddle, then you get to kiss the girl.
If the girl sees it first and says pa-diddle, she gets to smack you.
So that’s how it started out.
And I can think of any number of other car games that are roughly similar, like Slugbug, everyone knows, right?
Slugbug, exactly.
Slugbug.
Wait, I’ve never played any of these, you guys.
You live in car culture now, Martha Shirley, right?
Well, no, I’ve never heard of it in California, and I certainly didn’t hear it growing up in Kentucky.
Slugbug?
No.
What is Slugbug?
When you see a VW, you get to hit the guy next to you.
You just slug him on the shoulder and say, slug bug.
It’s just like Pernitle.
The Golders get there first.
You know, Rick mentioned being 16.
Even if you play this as an adult, it’s still pretty much a 16-year-old mindset.
It’s all about hitting somebody and having a reason to.
And everyone kind of just, don’t they, Rick?
They just kind of abide by their rules.
They don’t begrudge you the fact that you beat them to the punch, literally.
Really?
It’s like giving noogies or something, only on wheels.
Exactly.
So it sounds like it grew up with car culture.
I mean, you didn’t drive your horse and buggy and do it back then.
And, you know, that’s actually a really good point.
I think it’s significant that the term really doesn’t start to show up until the 1950s because that was after the war is when we could reasonably expect most American families to have an automobile and for that automobile to be allowed to be driven by, you know, 16-year-old boys who like to hit each other.
And have nothing better to do than go drive around for a while when gas is coming.
Sure. Well, you know, think about the kissing game.
You know, go out and pick up their sweetie and go down the lover’s lane, right?
Someone that I work with that I had a conversation with talked about a variation of Padiddle where you’re supposed to be taking articles of clothing off.
I don’t know anything about that one.
Strip Padiddle?
Strip Padiddle, exactly.
Strip Padiddle.
No, in Wisconsin in December, that may not have been that much fun.
No, it might be about putting clothes on.
Wow.
Get home and you’re wearing 15 sweaters and you’re like, I don’t know what the light is.
You know, I’m going into the light business.
A lot of people need headlights in this town.
All right, well, I hope we’ve helped you some, Rick.
Very enlightening, did you say, Rick?
Yeah, yeah, I know.
I couldn’t resist it.
That’s nice.
That’s nice.
All right.
Thanks for the call, Rick.
Glad to talk to you.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Padiddle.
Padiddle.
Now you’re going to do it, right?
Now I’m going to do it.
Even when you’re on your own, you’re going to get home with a bruised thigh because you’ll be hitting yourself every time you see a car with the light out.
No, I’m going to be playing strip-pediddle by myself on the freeway.
Well, you know, in those parts of the country where it’s common to keep your headlights on during the day, the pediddle is probably a much more thorough and ongoing affair.
It’s a constant thing no matter when you’re out, right?
Well, I guess so.
But is there a game for if your taillight is out?
Is it the piddle?
I don’t know.
I’ve never heard of that.
If it exists, I don’t know about it.
Well, if it exists, somebody knows about it.
So call us at 1-877-929-9673 or email us.
The address is words@waywordradio.org.
