Further Antedating of "Black Hole"

[Laurence Horn]

At 6:22 AM -0500 4/17/08, Paul wrote:
>paul johnson wrote:
>My understanding has always been that a FF was the act of launching
>yourself, fully extended , from the foot of the bed with the intention
>of reaching full penetration as you hit the bed.

Ouch.  But that doesn't quite explain why "a flying fuck" should work
as a minimizing negative polarity item in the context "to not give
____".  Generally, such items represent the lowest or least valuable
elements on their respective scales (not sleep a wink, not budge an
inch, not worth a plugged nickel/thin dime, not worth a sou, not
change a tittle or jot,...); back in the mid-19th century, Pott
observed that they all have the sense of "not even a..."  It's not
clear to me why a flying fuck, defined as above, would be less
valuable or more mundane than a garden variety one. Not that I'm in a
position to know.

LH

>  The only other
>daredevil sexual act is the standing position while in a hammock, there
>must  be others, I'm sure.
>
>RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:
>>Which raises the really important question, "What, exactly, is a flying
>>fuck?"
>>
>>In a message dated 4/16/08 8:48:04 PM, dad at POKERWIZ.COM writes:
>>
>>
>>>Who, with any view to any realistic
>>>endeavor of the human mind [sic], would really give a flying fuck if Wheeler
>>>is
>>>the coiner or not
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>**************
>>Need a new ride? Check out the largest site for U.S. used car
>>listings at AOL Autos.
>>
>>(http://autos.aol.com/used?NCID=aolcmp00300000002851)
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>
>
>--
>
>
>Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease.
>.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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