Page's colorful phrase (revival)

RonButters at AOL.COM RonButters at AOL.COM
Sat Dec 30 16:02:47 UTC 2006


I have a hazy memory of someone telling me of the existence of one or another
ancient Greek manuscripts in which soldiers are described as wading in water
up to their yengis. My memory is also that the word ''yengi'' occurs nowhere
else in A.G. and has no modern reflexes. Perhaps this is an early example of
the phrase from which the HDAS II entry is a parallel construction.


In a message dated 12/4/06 10:18:00 PM, wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM writes:


> HDAS II has the related "ass-deep to a tall Indian" from 1939, s.v.
> "Indian" because of the predominance in the corpus of "hip-deep" and
> "hip-high" forms.
>

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