# Kiddie show UL: Regional, common, or non-UL? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 16, 2002, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiddie-show-ul-regional-common-or-non-ul/124224 "2002-08-16T17:50:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiddie-show-ul-regional-common-or-non-ul/124224/1 "2002-08-16T17:50:06Z")
Here it goes: Kiddie show host is, um, hosting, when all of a sudden his kiddie guests (all African-American) all start laughing. Kiddie show host inquires, “What’s so funny?” Kiddie replies, “Leroy fahted!” OK. I’ve heard this as having come from three different kiddie show hosts in my “extended viewing area,” so I’m a little reluctant to believe it. Anyone else??? ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiddie-show-ul-regional-common-or-non-ul/124224/2 "2002-08-16T22:55:21Z")
You know, here in the Louisville, KY area, I’ve heard that rumor myself. Hopefully we can find out for sure. When I heard it, it was the Peanut Gallery on _Howdy-Doody_. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiddie-show-ul-regional-common-or-non-ul/124224/3 "2002-08-16T23:10:55Z")
“Leroy” sounds too stereotypically African-American; I smell an urban legend. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Green\_Fool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mr.Green\_Fool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Green_Fool)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiddie-show-ul-regional-common-or-non-ul/124224/4 "2002-08-17T06:39:14Z")
…Yes… because no one has ever been named Leroy…Not ever… It was created to be a black stereotype name. ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiddie-show-ul-regional-common-or-non-ul/124224/5 "2002-08-17T07:06:04Z")
also, true stories undergo a lot of editing when passing through the grapevine. Leroy could have been added after the fact, perhaps for racist reasons. jb ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiddie-show-ul-regional-common-or-non-ul/124224/6 "2002-08-17T11:40:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Green Fool \* > \*\*…Yes… because no one has ever been named Leroy…Not ever… It was created to be a black stereotype name. \*\* Like Tyrone Washington? Or LaWanda Johnson? ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiddie-show-ul-regional-common-or-non-ul/124224/7 "2002-08-17T12:22:00Z")
I’m almost positive that I went to grade school with a kid named Leroy. I’ll have to check and get back to you on it though. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiddie-show-ul-regional-common-or-non-ul/124224/8 "2002-08-17T13:26:12Z")
Leroy’s a perfectly good name. Here’s a few examples: [Leroy Ashcroft](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&as_qdr=all&q=+%22leroy+ashcroft%22&btnG=Google+Search) [Leroy Bush](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&as_qdr=all&q=+%22leroy+Bush%22&btnG=Google+Search) [Leroy Lott](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&as_qdr=all&q=+%22leroy+lott%22&btnG=Google+Search) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiddie-show-ul-regional-common-or-non-ul/124224/9 "2002-08-17T16:07:20Z")
I think Mr. Green Fool was being sarcastic… Besides, doesn’t “Leroy” mean “The King (Le Roi)”? Sounds like a good name to me. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiddie-show-ul-regional-common-or-non-ul/124224/10 "2002-08-17T16:30:00Z")
No one said Leroy was not a “perfectly good name”. ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiddie-show-ul-regional-common-or-non-ul/124224/11 "2002-08-17T17:34:00Z")
okay, here’s what a little research has turned up. here’s why my [cite](http://thorup.com/pa.html) _could_ be authentic. the kids name is the same, but no mention is made of ethnicity (since this took place back in the ‘good old days’, we can assume this means the kids were white). and, since Leroy is a stereotypically black name, it makes sense that this is a first-hand account, the name of the fahter was retained, and it was filled in through the grapevine that Leroy was black and that the rest of the kids were, too. also, as i said above, this is a first-hand account. no [Dark Helmet] **Absolutely nothing!** [/DH] attribution, no “Leroy appeared on Cowboy John’s show, and Leroy starred in Which Way to Wichita with ‘Spanky’ McFarlane, who appeared on Our Gang with Robert Blake, who’s dead ex-wife told Kevin Bacon who told my sister” crap. then again, this thorup site seems to be the only which mentions Cowboy John, Leroy, and fahting. i tried searching with Huntly, but nothing doing. anybody handier with google than i? jb ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiddie-show-ul-regional-common-or-non-ul/124224/12 "2002-08-17T19:00:10Z")
FWIW, I have an uncle who would have been about the right age to be on _Howdy Doody_ whose middle name is Leroy. So I don’t think it would be unusual to have a white kid with the name. ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kiddie-show-ul-regional-common-or-non-ul/124224/13 "2002-08-17T19:10:49Z")
no, of course not. for my part, I wasn’t trying to say that Leroy is a black name. just that it’s commonly assumed to be one. I mean, Leroy is irish, right? like Tyrone? jb