foot/hoof and mouth

[Gregory {Greg} Downing]

At 08:13 AM 2/28/2001 -0800, you wrote:
>Perhaps the "foot" part of this is reinforced by an old malady, the foot
>IN mouth disease, which is said to afflict, but not be confined solely to,
>the nation's capital. Joyce knew his stuff, all right.
>

FWIW, and assuming I executed the search correctly, OED2 has six examples of
"foot and mouth," none at all of "hoof and mouth," and one of "hoof and
mouf" dated 1971 in an AAVE context. OED2 also gives two cites for "hoof and
tongue" disease as a synomym for "foot and mouth" disease. How far back does
"hoof and mouth" go, and where are the early cites from, the US? How far
back does the "foot in mouth" joke go? Partridge DSUE dates "foot and mouth
disease" (a jocular golfing term) to "1923 or 24."


Greg Downing, at greg.downing at nyu.edu or gd2 at nyu.edu