body = 'a human being as capable of feeling physical pain'

[Laurence Horn]

On Aug 15, 2014, at 3:45 AM, W Brewer wrote:

> (1) <<Gin a body meet a body / Comin thro' the rye>>.  

As the remainder of the verse indicates--

O gin a body meet a body,
Comin’ thro’ the rye;
Gin a body f—k a body,
Need a body cry?

[Burns, R. [1800] 1964. Comin’ thro’ the rye. In: J. Burke and S. Goodsir Smith (eds.), _The merry muses of Caledonia_, p. 144.
G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York.]

--Robbie Burns was definitely thinking of bodies here, and not just metonymically.

LH

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