Church key (was: Set-ups (was "Boilermakers"))

[Jeutonne P. Brewer]

I have never lived in Oregon and my two months in Milwaukee
limited my chances of hearing "church key." However, I heard
the term in the Southwest and the South during my teens, 20s,
and 30s.

Jeutonne Brewer


On Mon, 3 Apr 2000, Peter A. McGraw wrote:

> No one in the "church key" thread has so far suggested that it's a regional
> term, but in my experience it has been.
>
> I remember it as a common term during my grad school days in Wisconsin.
> After I had been away for nearly ten years, a former professor from UW
> visited me in Ohio and at a party asked for a "church key."  I looked blank
> at first, and when he said, "Oh--maybe that's a Wisconsin term," I finally
> remembered what it meant.  I haven't heard it on the East Coast or here in
> Oregon, either.  Is it because it's regional, or is it student slang and
> the reason I haven't heard it since Wisconsin is because I haven't been a
> student since then?
>
> Peter Mc.
>
> ****************************************************************************
>                                Peter A. McGraw
>                    Linfield College   *   McMinnville, OR
>                             pmcgraw at linfield.edu
>

*************************************************
Jeutonne P. Brewer, Linguist
email: jpbrewer at uncg.edu
URL:   http://www.uncg.edu/~jpbrewer
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