allp (asker) Jun 11, 2017:

You guys are a goldmine to me :) and the whole discussion has been very enlightening.
Yes, I think it's settled now - a bribery joke. Teddy's black, but there are no reasons to see him as white inside. And yes, such characters (black on the outside, white inside) are called Oreo cookies in my text. There are no references to Teddy being gay. And, moron or not, he knows things that the police are after, so they would have a reason to bribe him, which they eventually do, in a way.

The book hasn't been launched yet so it's not accessible on the internet.

Herbmione Granger Jun 11, 2017:

Yeah, sorry about implicating the British - this time. I have tired eyes. Anyway, the Answer is settled, unless the Asker still has doubts.

Björn Vrooman Jun 11, 2017:

The one I mean is not "on the British end" - it's an AmE meaning (I even said which answer to look for on that thread and the guy is American). The British use it for something like a protracted fight. But as said, this all seems somewhat OT now. Everyone - including the asker - determined that this was a reference to the brand, so there's nothing to discuss anymore. We're not creating a thesaurus here.

Best

Herbmione Granger Jun 11, 2017:

@Björn Very informative link. Demonstrates that the connotation is on the British end, then.

Björn Vrooman Jun 11, 2017:

@herbalchemist Then I'm sure you'll appreciate these two threads:
https://www.quora.com/What-does-ding-dongs-mean-in-English-o...
[see answer by Chrys Jordan in reference to both]

Actually, this one thread is enough. I'm not going to post the one polling people about what they like more, Ding Dongs or Ho Ho's.

And here I was thinking this all started out so "kids-friendly"...

Herbmione Granger Jun 11, 2017:

Sadly, I am the expert here, being from NY and from a family of cops. I've never seen the pastry, but it sounded like it should have a hyphen. Likewise, Devil Dogs are not hyphenated but sound like they should be: http://www.drakescake.com/100/devil-dogs My vote is still the same.

airmailrpl Jun 11, 2017:

Ding Dong A Ding Dong is a chocolate cake produced and distributed in the United States by Hostess Brands and currently owned by private equity firms Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co; it remains in production and distribution in Canada from Saputo Incorporated under the name King Don.
Ding Dong - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ding_Dong

Ding Dongs ®
The King of Cakes Is at Your Door.

You know you love Ding Dongs if the sound of the doorbell makes you drool. And if that’s the case, you’re not alone. Because the Ding Dong is the king of all cakes. And in this majestic land of snacking, the Ding Dong reigns supreme over many loyal subjects. Available in multipack or single serve.
http://www.hostesscakes.com/products

Herbmione Granger Jun 11, 2017:

I never considered a gay joke. Sometimes a dong is just a 'dong'.

Björn Vrooman Jun 11, 2017:

I didn't think there was so much left to be said. No offense to anyone, but I think this is starting to get a bit OT. Of course, you can use it as a racial slur, considering the colors of the cupcake (and filling), but that's even true of a cracker...

I agree with everything Kathryn said. If at all, the second most likely interpretation would have been the one everyone seems to be tiptoeing around. I think Kathryn knows what I'm talking about, as gay jokes could be the next best thing to fat jokes in such a setting. But I'll keep this thread "clean."

Wish you all a nice Sunday evening

Herbmione Granger Jun 11, 2017:

The more common 'black on the outside, white on the inside' code these days is 'Oreo'. Ding-dongs aren't seen anymore; they are from my parents' days. A definite racial reference that I know involving Hostess 'pastries' is a 'Twinkie', which is yellow on the outside, white on the inside.

Herbmione Granger Jun 11, 2017:

@JackMark I also originally thought ding-dong as in nincompoop. That is typical NYPD talk. However, I was convinced by the capitalization with hyphenation and possible allusion to bribery that this is the Hostess 'pastry'.

12316323 (X) Jun 10, 2017:

Hi JackMark, allp shared that in his first comment in this discussion space (not in the original question, unfortunately).

And that's interesting. I wasn't familiar with that meaning.

Jacek Kloskowski Jun 10, 2017:

FYI - Ding-Dong is also a racial slur for "Black on the outside, white on the inside. Blacks who act white":

http://www.rsdb.org/slur/ding_dong

not that I disagree with the "snack" interpretation, it could have been meant as a joke about "fat Teddy" (not sure where you have found the info that the "Teddy" character is fat, though) but that can only be known by the asker. We may only infer from the little info we see here...

12316323 (X) Jun 10, 2017:

From the information we have, I feel certain it's right. And I have no reason to want it to be right... not my answer. I don't see the author using capitalization arbitrarily (though the hyphen was incorrect). It's capitalized because it's referring to a trademarked product that most Americans recognize immediately. I don't see the author capitalizing "shit" or writing "teddy" in lowercase willy-nilly.

Of course, it would have helped if the asker had shared from the outset that the character's street nickname is Fat Teddy. A characteristic that some of us picked up intuitively.

If it did mean morons, I'd expect a construction like "no matter how many ding-dongs are in the room" or "no matter how many ding-dongs go with us."

In a nutshell, don't doubt yourself, Robert. It fits the style, register, and context. I bet it was fun coming up with a Polish cultural/situational equivalent, allp :)

Robert Forstag Jun 10, 2017:

Asker should be in a position to know JackMark may well be right. I would think that the Asker is in the best position to know or easily find out what was meant here. The work from which the extract was posted seems nowhere accessible on the internet and therefore I am not sure what more external help can be provided, since we could not read the piece even if we wanted to.

Jacek Kloskowski Jun 10, 2017:

Even if it is written in caps (who knows why), I am not convinced this is referring to "Ding-Dong" proper name of cakes. In this context, I read "ding-dong" as:

"ding-dong (noun)
Slang. One deficient in judgment and good sense:
ass, fool, idiot, imbecile, jackass, mooncalf, moron, nincompoop, ninny, nitwit, simple, simpleton, softhead, tomfool.
Informal: dope, gander, goose.
Slang: cretin, dip, goof, jerk, nerd, schmo, schmuck, turkey."

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ding-dong

As such, I read this as (granted, this is an interpretation):

"it doesn't matter if we take him in (e.g. arrest), he will not tell us anything of value as he is an idiot. It doesn't matter how many morons we arrest, they will not help us to get to the bosses"

Again, this is just my take on it.

allp (asker) Jun 9, 2017:

@Björn
they're high-dining cops, no donuts :)

@Kathryn: no cookie for me for that mistake :)

Have a nice evening, everybody!

12316323 (X) Jun 9, 2017:

@Björn

I've had all news sources (from the NYT to the Hindustani Times) blocked on my computer since about, oh, November 2016. I was a political junkie, too, but too much junk food- be it Ding Dongs or political blather -eventually makes you sick and malnourished :)

@allp
Not to split hairs, but it's more like a chocolate cupcake with cream in the middle than a cookie. Good to know about Fat Teddy :)

Björn Vrooman Jun 9, 2017:

@allp Thanks for the info. Aren't they cops? Thought they'd bribe him with donuts...

Have a nice evening

Björn Vrooman Jun 9, 2017:

@Kathryn Political junkie over here...

Ever since Caputo happened, a dead witch has been all I could think about when hearing "ding-dong":
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/06/20/politics/michael-caputo-co...

Enjoy your evening :)

allp (asker) Jun 9, 2017:

@Kathryn et al. Teddy's overweight, his street nickname is Fat Teddy :)
I googled up the Ding-Dong cookies, but couldn't find any reference to the dialogue - didn't think of bribing Teddy. Makes sense, thanks for clearing it up!

12316323 (X) Jun 9, 2017:

I wasn't referring to your comment in any way, Björn; I was responding to Robert. Not that it matters--was just curious. And my mind went to the same place at first. Thought it was a reference to men. You're right, though; the capitalization gave it away. Of course, I also know the Wizard of Oz reference :)

Björn Vrooman Jun 9, 2017:

@Kathryn I thought it was pretty clear from the context posted that they aren't talking about a kid ("warrant on Teddy's phones"). My "kids-friendly" bit was an allusion to the other meaning(s) of the noncapitalized version.

Cf the Youtube link I added.

Best

12316323 (X) Jun 9, 2017:

Robert has the answer, but now we're wondering about the reason for the reference/joke. Is Teddy overweight or a kid? I don't think he's a kid; the trend is for people who name their kids Theodore these days to call them Theo, not Teddy or Ted :)

People make jokes connecting fat people to Ding Dongs, Ho Hos, Twinkies, and the like all the time.