slang of the 1870s

[Derrick Chapman]

In "Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" by MacKay, there's a whole
section devoted to catchphrases from previous centuries.  For the life of
me, I can't figure how some of them caught on, but apparently Saturday Night
Live did not originate the fad.

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
Of Ray Ott
Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2000 6:27 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: slang of the 1870s


All those slang expressions put me in mind of my Grandfather, who used most
of them, including "...talking through your hat".  But most often, in such
cases, he would say, " ...like a soldier's coat without buttons".

Ray Ott