[Ads-l] mental midget

[Jonathan Lighter]

Nice!

JL

On Wed, Sep 27, 2017 at 8:15 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:

> Jonathan Lighter  wrote:
> > Antedating? (HDAS not to hand.) GB snippet, looks real. Haven't checked
> any
> > newspaper databases for anything earlier:
> >
> > 1923 _Sewanee Review_ XXXI 136: The veriest mental midget sees events in
> > terms of centuries, of vast movements of flux and achievement.
>
> The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang has on page
> 540 of volume 2 the following:
>
> [Begin excerpt from HDAS]
> mental midget n. a stupid person
> 1966 N.Y.C. high school student: That mental midget.
> [End excerpt from HDAS]
>
> Here is a citation from the theatrical domain in the nineteenth century.
>
> Date: April 28, 1888
> Newspaper: The Pittsburgh Post (Pittsburgh Daily Post)
> Newspaper Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
> Article: Tales of the Stage: Some Remarks on Mr. Keene's Methods of Playing
> Quote Page 12, Column 5
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> [Begin excerpts - check for typos]
> The stage swarms with mental midgets who caparison themselves in
> stilted travesties and mechanical monstrosities called plays.
> [End excerpts]
>
> Garson
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



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