go = say, date?

[Robert S. Wachal]

I was thinking of the theme song for Little Orphan Annie which has the
line: "Arf," goes Sandy.  From the early thirties, I would guess.

At 11:52 AM 8/31/00 -0400, you wrote:
>> Does anyone have a date for 'go' in the sense of 'say' prior to the early
>> 1930's?
>
>It depends on how you define "say". There are pre-1930s examples
>of _go_ in reference to animal noises, sound effects, or
>inarticulate human utterances, but I'm not aware of any pre-1930s
>(or even pre-1940s) example where it is used meaning strictly
>'to say' in reference to actual speech.
>
>Jesse Sheidlower
>OED
>