One of Sylvester’s phrases, of course. The succotash wiki refers to it as a depression-era exclamation ........ said to be a minced oath/euphemism of “Suffering Savior”.  Any evidence that this does date to the Depression? I’m certainly not aware of hearing it anywhere other than in WB cartoons. (OED maintains a stony silence).

BTW anybody here ever eat succotash? Is it a popular American dish or something eaten only on rare occasions?

I can’t find it in any of my dictionaries, and a search of the historical NY Times turns up nothing. Jonathan Green’s Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang does, however, have an entry for suffering catfish, dating from the 1940-50s. That dictionary doesn’t give citations, so I don’t know what this is based on.

I would not be surprised if suffering succotash was invented by Mel Blanc to take advantage of Sylvester’s lisp. Evidently, Sylvester made his appearance in 1945 and was paired with Tweety in 1947. Daffy Duck, another Blanc lisper, uses the phrase on occasion as well.

Succotash is indeed common in the US.

aldiboronti - 14 November 2010 10:26 AM

BTW anybody here ever eat succotash? Is it a popular American dish or something eaten only on rare occasions?

I like mine with a good dollop of butter and some curry seasoning.