"pure-d"

Question

A couple of people have tried to tell me this is something like "purdy" (American southern for "pretty") but I'm quite sure it is a separate phrase, meaning "very". I know it's not pronounced like purdy, it's two separate words.
I also have the idea it's a euphemism for "pure damn" but I have not been able to find a citation on the web.
Is there any definitive information on this phrase's derivation and meaning?
-JoAnne

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]A couple of people have tried to tell me this is something like "purdy" (American southern for "pretty") but I'm ... been able to find a citation on the web. Is there any definitive information on this phrase's derivation and meaning?[/nq]
How are you seeing it used? Some sort of slang meaning? Anything to do with drugs, by any chance?
When I search for "pure-D" with Google, I get tons of chemical references, like:
Pure D-Alpha Tocopherol 400 IU
Pure D-Glucosamine Sulfate Crystalline Powder
PURE D-PHENYLALANINE.
NEURODRUGS:Pure d-MPH pure D-carbamoylates
pure D-fraction compound...
The Acronym Finder says that one of the meanings of "D" alone is "aspartic acid."
I also see a few other scientific and mathematical uses, like:

pure d-wave
pure d-dimensional quantum ...
But these things couldn't be what prompted you to ask, surely.

Ah, here we go. When I check Google Groups, which is more colloquial and less technical, I mostly get Italian results, but I do find a few of these:
Pure-D geniuses.
Pure "D" ***
a pure-D ***
Pure-D horseshit
This sounds like an extension of "pure" for emphasis and rhythm "pure number-one-grade top-quality ***," etc. So perhaps it does come from the chemical use. Can anyone explain the significance of "pure D" in the chemical/pharmaceutical compounds?

Best Donna Richoux

Usenet · Answer

( snip)
[nq:1]Ah, here we go. When I check Google Groups, which is more colloquial and less technical, I mostly get Italian results, but I do find a few of these: Pure-D geniuses. Pure "D" *** a pure-D *** Pure-D horseshit[/nq]
I'm familiar with that from my early days in Texas. No notion of what the D is, unless it cleaned up "****".
[nq:1]This sounds like an extension of "pure" for emphasis and rhythm "pure number-one-grade top-quality ***," etc. So perhaps it does come from the chemical use. Can anyone explain the significance of "pure D" in the chemical/pharmaceutical compounds?[/nq]
Pure-dextro, as opposed to pure levo. From the direction they rotate (polarized) light.
The reflected forms of pharmaceutical isomers are sometimes very different in action or potency.
Also, from googling,
the amino acids one finds in proteins are always what are called the ?L? or ?levo? amino acids, and never the ?D? or ?dextro? amino acids

- This was used in at least one science fiction story where the 'rotated' survivor of passing through a Klein bottle (see also 'Mobius strip') faced the prospect of starving to death.

Rich Ulrich, (Email Removed)
http://www.pitt.edu/~wpilib/index.html

Usenet · Answer

Richard Ulrich filted:
[nq:1]Also, from googling, the amino acids one finds in proteins are always what are called the ?L? or ?levo? amino acids, and never the ?D? or ?dextro? amino acids[/nq]
I've been told that a supplement I take should always be the combined form, "DL-phenylalanine", in order to have the desired effect....
[nq:1]- This was used in at least one science fiction story where the 'rotated' survivor of passing through a Klein bottle (see also 'Mobius strip') faced the prospect of starving to death.[/nq]
"Doorways in the Sand", to save people looking it up...also includes the classic explanation of how and why one might become a "perpetual student"....r

Usenet · Answer

Richard Ulrich:
[nq:2]- This was used in at least one science fiction ... also 'Mobius strip') faced the prospect of starving to death.[/nq]
R.H. Draney:
[nq:1]"Doorways in the Sand", to save people looking it up...[/nq]
By Roger Zelazny, 1976, it appears from a quick google.

The same plot point was used earlier (only without the Klein bottle) by Arthur C. Clarke in "Technical Error" (also published as "The Reversed Man", I believe).

Mark Brader, Toronto, (Email Removed)
We can design a system that's proof against accident and stupidity; but we CAN'T design one that's proof against deliberate malice. a spaceship designer in Arthur C. Clarke's "2001: A Space Odyssey"

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]A couple of people have tried to tell me this ... there any definitive information on this phrase's derivation and meaning?[/nq]
[nq:1]How are you seeing it used? Some sort of slang meaning? Anything to do with drugs, by any chance? When ... "pure" for emphasis and rhythm "pure number-one-grade top-quality ***," etc. So perhaps it does come from the chemical use.[/nq]
I've heard this in movies - often Westerns. OED knows it as 'pure D' and 'puredee':
(pjU@di;) (f.

ure:a cf. D 3, dee b.)
Thoroughgoing, 'regular'. Also as adv.

1941 J. Street In my Father's House ix. 148 I'm pow'ful fond of Woody.He's a pure D man. Ibid. xvi. 346 Mama has got pure D gumption. 1941 Sat. Even. Post 6 Dec. 110 It takes a pure D humdinger to hunt birds.+ If a dog's got pure D hoss sense and a fellow's got bat brains, he can train the dog to hunt birds. 1952 B. Harwin Home is Upriver i. 8 Kip's lip curled at this slovenly practice, one which Pa had always called puredee shif'less. 1964 Amer. Folk Music Occasional i. 92 This State you can drink, this State you can't except pure-dee ***-given water.

The reference to D 3 is to the abbreviation of '****' to 'd '. The reference to 'dee b' is:
"b. as adj.damned:ppl ppl. a. 4a.

1889 Kipling From Sea to Sea (1899) 212 Dee fool. It's different inUpper Burma, where you get command and travelling allowances." So '****' or 'damned' seems to be accepted as the origin. Though that doesn't seem to me to fit the earliest (1941) cite.
John Dean
Oxford

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Ah, here we go. When I check Google Groups, which is more colloquial and less technical, I mostly get Italian ... perhaps it does come from the chemical use. Can anyone explain the significance of "pure D" in the chemical/pharmaceutical compounds?[/nq]
I've always understood it to mean "pure **** .." as in "pure **** nonsense".

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Ah, here we go. When I check Google Groups, which ... explain the significance of "pure D" in the chemical/pharmaceutical compounds?[/nq]
[nq:1]I've always understood it to mean "pure **** .." as in "pure **** nonsense".[/nq]
Maybe it does. The chemical thing appears to be a modern coincidence, so far some chemical names begin with "D", and some of them are specified to be "pure," that's all. Now that I know "D-" pairs up with "L-", I'd probably find an equal number of "pure-L" hits... Yep, there they are:
Pure L-Cysteine
pure L-Tryptophan
Pure L-Carnitine
Pure L-Glutamine etc.
I'd believe the "pure ****" theory if anyone would attest to ever actually having heard or read the "****." Have you? In my experience, for a thing to be abbreviated or euphemized, it has to first exist, at least sometimes.

Best Donna Richoux

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I've always understood it to mean "pure **** .." as in "pure **** nonsense".[/nq]
[nq:1]Maybe it does. The chemical thing appears to be a modern coincidence, so far some chemical names begin with ... you? In my experience, for a thing to be abbreviated or euphemized, it has to first exist, at least sometimes.[/nq]
I dunno, Donna. It's like "BS". I don't recall anyone ever saying to me "'BS' stands for bull ***", but I somehow know that "BS" stands for bull ***. And "GD" for "*** damned". And "MFing" for "mother ***" Likewise, I've always understood that "Pure D" stands for "pure ****..". I would use it: "That chili is pure d spicy!". In any non-contrived usage I can think of, "pure ****" would fit.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Maybe it does. The chemical thing appears to be a modern coincidence, so far some chemical names begin with ... all. Now that I know "D-" pairs up with "L-", I'd probably find an equal number of "pure-L" hits... Yep...[/nq]
I agree about that being a coincidence. Here's another one.

When Newton and Leibniz independently invented the differential calculus, they didn't invent the same notations for it. For a long time British mathematicians used Newton's notation, where the derivative of x was written as x with a dot over it, while Continental ones used Leibniz's, where the derivative of x with respect to y was written as a ratio of differentials, dx/dy.
In the 19th century some British mathematicians began to agitate for the use of Leibniz's notation, as they felt it was superior (and it has indeed won out for most purposes). One of them was Charles Babbage. And he described the conflict as being between "the principles of pure d-ism" and "the dot-age of the university".
Pure D? No, pure d-ism. A pun on "deism", I'm sure, just as "dot-age" was a pun on "dotage".
If you Google on "pure d-ism" and "dot-age", you will see several pages recounting the pun and you will see Google ask if you mean "pure disco" and "dotage".
Definitely no comment.

Mark Brader, Toronto > "I wish to *** these calculations had been (Email Removed) > executed by steam!" Charles Babbage, 1821

My text in this article is in the public domain.

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