Tumblesauce for somersault: Has anyone else heard of this term outside of Jewish communities?

Question

I grew up calling "somersaults" tumblesauces. A Google search turns up a Jewish women's forum deliberating on whether this is a Jewish thing (I am Jewish too by the way.)

So, has anyone else here heard of that term? And where did it come from?

JEL · Answer

The Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE, paywalled) records 'tumblesauce' as a variant of "tumblesault n, v":

Also tumb(l)ersault, tummersault; also, esp freq among Black speakers, tumblesauce [Blend of tumble + somersault] chiefly Northeast, Central Atlantic; also Gulf States.

Most of the informants reporting 'tumblesauce' to DARE were queried during the 1965-70 survey. A later informant, recorded in a 1986 American Speech article (v. 61, p. 379), reports

An eleventh [variant of somersault] is tumblesauce (the last syllable is pronounced exactly like sauce), which I remember from my childhood in New York City (1945 →).

Janice jean Brodick · Answer

I too called them tumblesauce, came from Flushing queens, mother originally from lower east side of manhattan and Jewish.

Tumblesauce for somersault: Has anyone else heard of this term outside of Jewish communities?

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