early "tits"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Not in OED.

How many years ago was it, Eric?

BTW, "...on a boar-hog" is documented from 1940.

JL


On Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 10:39 AM, Eric Nielsen <ericbarnak at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Eric Nielsen <ericbarnak at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: early "tits"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> When I first heard that expression I thought it was "useless as tits on a
> board"-- which made sense in an absurdist kind of way.
>
> Years ago, in local shipyard parlance, all the unwanted pieces of metal
> left sticking out of a bulkhead prior to painting were called "tits". As in
> the boss would call you in and say, "OK, I want you to grind off all the
> tits in here".
>
> Eric
>
> On Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 7:29 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >
> >  But cf. "useless as tits on a boar[-hog]" in HDAS....Er, well, never
> mind
> > that....
> >
> > JL
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 1:25 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject:      Re: early "tits"
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 3:31 PM, Jonathan Lighter <
> > wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > not breasts but nipples
> > > >
> > >
> > > Exactly. "Teat" as "breast" strikes me as, well, messed up. Boar-hogs
> and
> > > bullamacows (WAG: < "bull, a man cow"; used only in Marshall, Texas,
> BE,
> > > AFAIK) have "teats" and not "tits."
> > >
> > > --
> > > -Wilson
> > > -----
> > > All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
> > > come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> > > -Mark Twain
> > >
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