[Ads-l] Hitchcock's MacGuffin

Stephen Goranson goranson at DUKE.EDU
Thu Mar 1 15:02:54 UTC 2018


a) A version of the "mongoose" in a box earlier than the 1884 Irving one:

1883, April 10, Tuesday, Daily/Morning Oregonian [Portland], page 7, col. 2 headline "Satisfied Curiosity."


b) Without reading all the old posts, imo, fwiw, I have the impression that the blog post omits likely relevant text.


Stephen

co-author, Origin of Kibosh: Routledge Studies in Etymology


________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <...> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <...>
Sent: Thursday, March 1, 2018 6:39 AM
To: ...
Subject: [ADS-L] Hitchcock's MacGuffin

Hitchcock's MacGuffin (McGuffin, Magoffin, Maguffin) was discussed on
the list back in 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2014. The Quote Investigator
website now has an entry on the topic. The piece does not cover all
the theories raised on the list.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__quoteinvestigator.com_2018_02_28_macguffin_&d=DwIBaQ&c=imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=uUVa-8oDL2EzfbuMuowoUadHHcJ7pjul6iFkS5Pd--8&m=8VSCnXxZKZ2WMSXEWyJjNvkn3cGgN4xou8A-lR3MLl0&s=ycKYG30tlHAzO91UzeCEScK1oLxZJb9l36f3Nvq4I2g&e=

[Begin acknowledgement]
Great thanks to Jonathan Lighter whose inquiry led QI to formulate
this question and perform this exploration. Special thanks to mailing
list discussants Stephen Goranson, Jonathan Lighter, Robin Hamilton,
Douglas G. Wilson, Dan Goncharoff, Victor Steinbok, and Joel S.
Berson. Wilson and Goranson pointed to the 1925 citation.
[End acknowledgement]

Robin and Joel are greatly missed.

Garson

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