"squint" = "narrow one's eyes" not in OED?

Thu Mar 3 17:11:12 UTC 2011

Jester asks:

> Is this a BrE/AmE distinction? I'd never heard the 'to be cross-eyed'
> sense of _squint_ until reading Neal's e-mail.
>

James Gordon Bennett was the editor/publisher of The Herald, sometimes published as the Morning Herald; later as the New York Herald, and as mentioned yesterday, ancestral to the NY Herald-Tribune.  One of the notable characteristics of his paper in its early years was the way it flaunted the character of Bennett.  He used the editorial "I", not "we", and portrayed himself as in a continuous state of terminal horniness.  (It's maddening to me to come upon what promises to be an interesting account of a visit by Bennett to a resort, a theater, a lecture-hall, and to find that by the 3rd paragraph it is off on rhapsodies of praise for the fine-looking women to be seen there.)
Bennett had some sort of problem with the alignment of his eyes, though I'm not clear whether it affected both eyes, or only one.
Note that Bennett himself published the first 3 of these items, and wrote the 2nd & 3rd.
He was born in Scotland.

        James Gordon Bennett, -- You damned rascal!  I write this just to let you know that you are the ugliest man I ever saw in my life.  I saw you for the first time on board the South Ferry boat, and you made me sick.  I wonder you ain't afraid to sleep alone, you are so ugly.  I felt a great inclination to wring your long nose on board the boat.  You would be an excellent fellow to pick cherries, you could hang on the limb with your nose, and pick with both hands.  You are the most infernal, long-nosed, cock-eyed son of a ----- I ever looked at, and a damned old scaly Scotsman in the bargain.  I should not wonder if I gave you the damnedest cowhiding you ever had in your life, the way I'd wring that long nose would be a caution.
        The Herald, July 27, 1836, p. 2, col. 2. [This doesn't use the word "squint" -- uses "cock-eyed".]

        ***  To the prophetic eye of taste, (particularly a squint eye,) Union Place, Stuyvesant Square, Gramercy Park, and the East Battery, possess a thousand and a thousand charms, which no other part of New York, or the world, can or will possess.  ***
        The Herald, October 19, 1836, p. 2, col. 1  [a very long essay on the glorious future of uptown NYC]

        [a long puff for Mrs. Drigg's Gentleman's Fancy Furnishing Store, 164 Broadway]  "What is the price of this?" I asked, just describing a parabola with my luscious squint eye round her pretty face and fine bust.
        Morning Herald, June 16, 1837, p. 2, col.

        ƒ¶ We have been presented with a very good lithographic print, Published by Baker, No. 8 Wall street.  It is a strange figure, sitting in a chair, with its pen in its hand, and ink and paper before it; while underneath is the following description: "James G. B******, the ladies' Favorite; also Proprietor and Editor of the most useful paper in the Union."  The portrait has a most "beautiful squint."
        NY Transcript, August 2, 1837, p. 2, col. 3

        [a sketch of James Gordon Bennett]  I have not said that James Gordon was open hearted or straightforward; nor do I intend to, although I might; for his motto is S. P. Q. R., salaries paid quite regular.  Previous to his success in the Herald, he was down in the heel, and down in the mouth -- his genius has mended both.
        He has an elegant squint, a shrewd look, and easy sitting pantaloons.  When in the street, . . . his head is encircled by an ordinary hat, one of the Champlins, which he wears in such a way as would lead the uninitiated to suppose that he intended it for the protection of his sconce or jemmy as it is called in the classics, rather than for elegance. . . .
        Sunday Mercury, February 7, 1841, p. 2, col. 2

GAT

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.  Working on a new edition, though.

----- Original Message -----
From: Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM>
Date: Thursday, March 3, 2011 8:51 am
Subject: Re: "squint" = "narrow one's eyes" not in OED?
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU

> Is this a BrE/AmE distinction? I'd never heard the 'to be cross-eyed'
> sense of _squint_ until reading Neal's e-mail.
>
> Jesse Sheidlower
> OED
>
> On Thu, Mar 03, 2011 at 08:45:38AM -0500, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > Incredible but true.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 12:11 AM, Neal Whitman <nwhitman at ameritech.net>wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Neal Whitman <nwhitman at AMERITECH.NET>
> > > Subject:      "squint" = "narrow one's eyes" not in OED?
> > >
> > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > The term "squinting modifier" (what I'd call a forward/backward attachment
> > > ambiguity) never made sense to me until I learned that "squint"
> can mean
> > > "be
> > > cross-eyed or wall-eyed, seem to look in two directions":
> > > http://literalminded.wordpress.com/2011/03/02/squint/
> > >
> > > More surprising is that my definition, "narrow one's eyes", isn't
> in the
> > > OED
> > > at all, as far as I can tell.
> > >
> > > Neal Whitman
> > > Email: nwhitman at ameritech.net
> > > Blog: http://literalminded.wordpress.com
> > > Twitter: @LiteralMinded
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
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