billy-go-fister

[Jonathan Lighter]

"A hard blow with the fist." Esp. to the abdomen? I believe this obsolete term is in HDAS but I've seen it rarely:

  1863 _Hooley's Oper House Songster_ (N.Y.: Dick & FitzGerald) 62: One Billy-go-fister I gave,/ Which caused her to grunt and to grin agin.

  Now what rhymes with "grin agin"?...

  JL


---------------------------------
Take the Internet to Go: Yahoo!Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news, photos & more.

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