Mr. K.A.B.
#258-### - MHCA
P.O. Box 534 -- Annex
Jessup, Maryland 20794
Re: "Feed Up" as part of the language
Dear Mr. B:
I received your letter way back in November along with your ARPs to the Warden and Commissioner objecting to the use of the expression "feed up" in connection with normal dietary routines at your facility.
Back in 1980, when I first worked in the system at Baltimore City Jail, I too found the expression "feed up" barbaric, crude and demeaning. Yet, day after day I would watch the events and processes that would occur when the "Feed Up!" call was made.
Then I came to understand that "Feed Up", while not as elegant or eloquent as "Alimentation!", "Nourishment!" or "Midday Meal!", was only tangential to the taking in of food. "Feed Up" does not refer to dietary matters -- "Feed Up" refers to the processes, procedures, coordination and teamplay of the correctional officers involved in the conduct of the event. In fact, properly executed, "Feed Up" can almost be seen as an (albeit barbaric) dance form where lines are assembled, gates are opened and closed in sequence, and the dancers arrange themselves around the dining hall toward the serving area and eventually back again bussing empty trays and being funnelled back to section.
Noting your reference to a modern dictionary, I checked with the Oxford English Dictionary (which reflects the history of the language) and found that the first known written use of the term "feed" occurred in 1572 but that "feed" and its related uses (e.g., "graze") is derived from Old English (not French, Latin, or German). In other words, "feed" existed in Anglo-Saxon speech long before the development of writing or alphabets. So the officer who told you it's been in use for 100 years was short by at least 900 more.
I should also point out that the people that invented and used the term "feed" were considered the barbarians, heathen, pagans, etc. by the invading hoards who spoke Middle German, Middle French or the Latin of the Roman conquerors (most probably the "vulgate" of Roman society, much like the COs and inmates of today). As a matter of fact, it is known that much "Old English" in existence at the time of Germanic invasion disappeared within one generation as the "barbarians" adapted to the new culture. But much other vocabulary remained: You may be familiar with other OE words such as "milk", four-letter words ending in "ck" (e.g., lack, lick, lock, luck) and many other words of one syllable.
Another important characteristic of the word "feed" is that it is one syllable and easy to pronounce and easy to understand. You must remember that this country is a nation of immigrants and when prisons were invented there were any number of cultures involved, not the least of which were African-derived persons who may or may not have spent a generation or two migrating around what was still a very young and immature nation. The "Up" was added to "Feed" probably around the same time as prisons and gates and COs came to be. In Maryland, the expression probably came into use shortly after 1811 when the Penitentiary was built. I have no information on whether the term is in use in Great Britain now or whether "feed up" is a uniquely American construction. It is my speculation that the word "chow" somehow originated with the Chinese who came to build the railroads out West -- and the "down" or "chow down" was added by the ruffians, refugees and fortune hunters moving West before, during and after the Civil War ("cowboys"?).
Finally, and it has been interesting to examine the etiology of "feed up", it will not be possible to legislate such terminology out of existence. You have asked me to write to Commissioner Lanham supporting such a request. Data diskettes for word processors he can do. Allowing freedom of assembly at ECI he can do. DCDs on the Internet he can do if he tries. Putting the lifers back on work release shouldn't be too hard. Coming up with a Department- wide contraband policy without consulting the Attorney General wouldn't be beyond imagination. Getting back all the TVs, radios and transcripts lost from D-building in May of 1997 may be impossible. Removing the expression "feed up" from 30-60,000 vocabularies would be virtually and absolutely impossible.
Thank you for approaching me with this very fascinating issue. I hope I have shed light if not heat.
Sincerely,
Nancy Moran
nm
cc: Mr. Richard A. Lanham, Sr.