[Ads-l] An old usage

Geoffrey Nathan geoffnathan at WAYNE.EDU
Thu Aug 20 02:28:25 UTC 2020


Assuming that it means ‘is the devil’ it’s something from my childhood (or perhaps children’s books). Toronto, sixties…

Geoff

Geoffrey S. Nathan
WSU Information Privacy Officer (Retired)
Emeritus Professor, Linguistics Program
http://blogs.wayne.edu/proftech/
geoffnathan at wayne.edu

From: Wilson Gray<mailto:hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2020 10:17 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: An old usage

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Debate Politics Forumswww.debatepolitics.com =E2=80=BA 355849-trumps-bad-ec=
onomy-6
May 3, 2019 - You folks _talk about him like he had a tail_. Someone should
crack a history book ( you). W isn't the same person as HW.

An ancient turn of phrase amongst the colored. May be general Southern.
Ain't no tellin'. Never seen it in print, before.

--
-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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