[Ads-l] Antedating of "Lunch"

[Shapiro, Fred]

lunch (OED, lunch n.2 2.a., 1829)

1815 _Cobbett's Political Register_ 18 Nov. 200 (ProQuest)  But, be sure, Dick, to wrap your bag well up in your clothes, during winter, or, when you come to lunch, you may, to your great surprise, find your food transformed into pebbles.

[NOTE:  It is possible that this is an example of _lunch_, v. (OED 1823), rather than illustrating the nominal use of the word.]

Fred Shapiro

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