[Ads-l] break a leg

Thu Jul 16 19:33:18 UTC 2020

Thanks for your response. JL. I posted the 1859 citation with the
sense "seduce a girl" because the "Vocabulum" compilation was
published in New York, and you stated that the related pregnancy sense
was "Rarely attested in U.S." Yet, I realize that the presence of a
term in a slang compilation published in New York does not prove that
the term was actually in use in New York.

Nice work, Andy. Here is an earlier compilation published in London
that contains a similar entry.

Year: 1785 MDCCLXXXV
Title: A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

https://books.google.com/books?id=NqHteIy-lXYC&q=%22broken+a+leg%22#v=snippet&

[Begin excerpt]
to break a leg, a woman who has had a bastard, is said to have broken a leg.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Thu, Jul 16, 2020 at 1:03 PM Andy Bach <afbach at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 1811
> https://www.google.com/books/edition/Lexicon_Balatronicum/iDsJAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22Break%20a%20leg%22
> Lexicon Balatronicum
> A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence
> By Francis Grose, Hewson Clarke, George Cruikshank · 1811
>
> Leg. To make a leg; to bow. To give leg-bail and land security; to run
> away. To fight at the leg; to take unfair advantage: it being held
> unfair by back-sword players to strike at the leg.
>         To break a leg; a woman who has had a bastard, is said to have
> broken a leg.
>
> On Thu, Jul 16, 2020 at 11:22 AM ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > The 1859 slang book "Vocabulum" published in New York included an
> > entry for "TO BREAK A LEG" which specified a closely related sense.
> >
> > Year: 1859
> > Book Title: Vocabulum: Or, The Rogue's Lexicon
> > Editor: George W. Matsell
> > Publisher: George W. Matsell & Company, New York
> > Quote Page 90
> > https://books.google.com/books?id=07NZAAAAMAAJ&q=+%22break+a+leg%22#v=snippet&
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > TO BREAK A LEG. To seduce a girl.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Green’s Dictionary of Slang has a pertinent page with U.K. and U.S. citations.
> > https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/o4zbvxa
> >
> > Garson
> >
> > On Wed, Jul 15, 2020 at 4:29 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > The sentence is lexically ambiguous, but it's unlikely to assume, as Hall
> > > seems to, that an unidentified person broke the woman's leg, and that it
> > > was "mischief" of a sort that would arouse his curiosity.
> > >
> > > The idiom is attested earlier in England and later in the U.S. "A Word-List
> > > from Alabama,"  Dialect Notes, 1909, p. 294: "Break one's leg...Of a woman,
> > > to become with child illegitimately."
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > On Wed, Jul 15, 2020 at 2:49 PM Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Is there internal evidence showing that Walker was referring to an
> > > > unwanted pregnancy and not to a literal break of the leg?  The wording
> > > > seems to me to be inconclusive.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > John Baker
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of
> > > > Laurence Horn
> > > > Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2020 2:43 PM
> > > > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > > > Subject: Re: break a leg
> > > >
> > > > External Email - Think Before You Click
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Or 'become pregnant or bear a child out of wedlock, esp. during a
> > > > successful theatrical performance'?
> > > >
> > > > Actually, the two idioms differ in this respect, since "She got her leg
> > > > broken" can't be understood as referring to a performance, as opposed to a
> > > > pre-performance "Break a leg!" I'm not even sure I could report "I told
> > > > her to break a leg, and she did" to mean she did well on stage, given the
> > > > frozenness of the idiom.
> > > >
> > > > LH
> > > >
> > > > On Wed, Jul 15, 2020 at 2:38 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> > > > <mailto:wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>>
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > 'To become pregnant or bear a child out of wedlock." Rarely attested in
> > > > > U.S.
> > > > >
> > > > > 1862 in C. A. Glenn, ed. _Robert Walker _Letters of Robert Walker, A
> > > > > Soldier in the American Civil War_ (Veroqua, Wis.: Vernon Co. Censor,
> > > > > 1917)11: And I heard about that poor unfortunate girl, Mary Campfield,
> > > > > getting her leg broken. I should like to know who she blames for the
> > > > > mischief.
> > > > >
> > > > > Walker (1841-1864) was from Saltlick, O.
> > > > >
> > > > > JL
> > > > >
> > > > > --
> > > > > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > > > truth."
> > > > >
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>
> a
>
> Andy Bach,
> afbach at gmail.com
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