# Wicked Little Critta **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 12, 2001, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wicked-little-critta/92884 "2001-11-12T05:54:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wicked-little-critta/92884/1 "2001-11-12T05:54:27Z")
> [@](#): > > He’s a wicked little critta with a sissy bar- > and he lays a patch on the tar > and he pops a wheelie on his minibike > and he burns rubber and he peels out > and he clips the puck from Havlicek > and Havlicek is used and abused > he decides to ditch and he ditches > and nobody knows where he ditched > … > he’s a dink Exerpted from “Wicked Little Critta” They Might Be Giants What does this mean? Any insights in to this narrative would be appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wicked-little-critta/92884/2 "2001-11-13T00:22:13Z")
Surely someone can help me? ---
**Author:** ![xanadu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c4cdca/32.png) [@xanadu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanadu)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wicked-little-critta/92884/3 "2001-11-13T06:04:54Z")
According to [this](http://www.flakmag.com/music/minkcar.html) website, its not supposed to make any sense. Its just a bunch of New England slang strewn together. ---
**Author:** ![Darkrabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@Darkrabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkrabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wicked-little-critta/92884/4 "2001-11-13T06:10:56Z")
Some of the references are hockey references … slang you would use in describing a hockey game or a hockey ‘move’. That’s about as far as I get! “Mink Car”, excellent album. **DarkRabbit** ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wicked-little-critta/92884/5 "2001-11-13T06:39:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xanadu \* > \*\*According to [this](http://www.flakmag.com/music/minkcar.html) website, its not supposed to make any sense. Its just a bunch of New England slang strewn together. \*\* What does the slang mean? ---
**Author:** ![robinh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@robinh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinh)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wicked-little-critta/92884/6 "2001-11-13T14:54:13Z")
“Wicked little critta”: “wicked” is generally used in New England as a substitute for “very”. “Wicked pissah (pisser)” means “very good”. “Critta” would be “critter”; a “wicked little crittah” would probably be a badly behaved or mischevious boy, a Dennis the Menace type. “Laying a patch” is the same as “burning rubber”, when you squeal the tires of your car, (“peeling out”) leaving tire marks on the asphault. A “sissy bar” is, I believe, a particular part of a bike. The term is familiar, but I’m not certain of exactly what it is. Havlicek was a hockey player, as **Darkrabbit** pointed out. The word “ditch”, to my ear, means to leave, to throw away, or give up on. Example: “My friend ditched me at the party and I didn’t have a ride home.” There is also a more literal sense, in which you ditch your car (or bike) by driving off the road (and end up in the ditch.) “Dink” is a derogatory term meaning a small, unimportant person. “Dinky” can also be used to mean “small”. “Dweeb” is fairly close in meaning. “Dink” is also children’s slang for penis. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wicked-little-critta/92884/7 "2001-11-13T15:28:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by robinh \* > \*\* > > Havlicek was a hockey player, as **Darkrabbit** pointed out. > > \*\* Sorry. [John Havlicek](http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0109264.html) was a basketball player. Tho he did play for the Celtics. ---
**Author:** ![masafer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@masafer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/masafer)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wicked-little-critta/92884/8 "2001-11-13T16:54:56Z")
This came up on alt.music.tmbg a while ago. A painfully detailed explanation can be found [here](http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&selm=3B01AC04.7D6E6F41%40iodynamics.com). ---
**Author:** ![robinh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@robinh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinh)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wicked-little-critta/92884/9 "2001-11-14T01:26:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by adam yax \* > Sorry. [John Havlicek](http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0109264.html) was a basketball player. Tho he did play for the Celtics. \*\* Eek! You are so right. Apologies to all Celtics fans. The site **masafer** links to gives a detailed description of a sissy bar. (Good thing, too; it’s been bugging me all day.)