[Ads-l] "shaggy dog...metaphor" 1887

Stephen Goranson goranson at DUKE.EDU
Thu Nov 7 10:38:43 UTC 2019


Metaphor, yes. I thought it might be interesting (perhaps not) for including "not so shaggy" which does several times appear, admittedly later, with shaggy dog stories.
Maybe comparable (or not) with posted "bear stories" or maybe ones about the fish that got away (told but undercut?).
Stephen

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From: American Dialect Society <...> on behalf of Peter Reitan <...>
Sent: Wednesday, November 6, 2019 6:37 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <...>
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] "shaggy dog...metaphor" 1887

I read the metaphor as a simple comparison of him to a dog that is literally shaggy, not an allusion to a  "shaggy dog story."
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Subject: "shaggy dog...metaphor" 1887

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Subject:      "shaggy dog...metaphor" 1887
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My apology for repeating JL's find.
Here's a Jan. 21, 1887 use in The Evening Gazette, Monmouth, Illinois, p. 3=
 col. 2, with an image of a balding man:

....the usual view [of Republican leader] Tom Reed of Maine. Reed is a big =
Newfoundland dog in general appearance and manner, save that he is not so s=
haggy and hairy as he should be to make the metaphor precise.....

S. Goranson

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__idnc.library.illinois.edu_cgi-2Dbin_illinois-3Fa-3D3Dd-26d-3D3DTEG18870121.1.-3D&d=DwIFAg&c=imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=uUVa-8oDL2EzfbuMuowoUadHHcJ7pjul6iFkS5Pd--8&m=uWilOue2Zzs-K_SsdkZ7tTsT0mrmu54cAoIPQvSBPfs&s=EgrKJJWucw4P_9aMTWf41Rv8iJSD6sgdiq1BcU9_cl8&e=
3&txq=3D%2522not+so+shaggy%2522


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