Antedating of "Bat Out of Hell"

Stephen Goranson goranson at DUKE.EDU
Wed Apr 11 15:04:02 UTC 2007


> On Wed, Apr 11, 2007 at 10:01:54AM -0400, Fred Shapiro wrote:
>> bat out of hell (OED 1921, HDAS 1909)
>>
>> 1906 _The Cosmopolitan_ May [article beginning on page 81] (American
>> Periodical Series)  A peon shot back the bolt of the bull-pen door and in
>> poured the bull like a bat out of hell.


The Lions of the Lord: A Tale of the Old West By Harry Leon Wilson, Copyright
1903, published June, 1903, page 107 (google book full view):

Why, I tell you, young man, if I knew any places where the pinches was
at, you'd
see me comin' the other way like a bat out of hell.

Stephen Goranson
http://www.duke.edu/~goranson

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list