Fazed [was Bar & Buffet]

[Laurence Horn]

At 12:48 PM -0600 1/23/01, Mark Odegard wrote:
>>    From BAR & BUFFET, January 1909, pg. 10, col. 2:
>[...]
>>Is the lunch clerk feazed?
>
>I assume this is 'fazed'. Is this a typo, or just an early eye-spelling? M-W
>say 1830 for 'faze', and, with AHD4 links it to ME 'fesen', 'frighten drive
>away'. You often see it spelled 'phased'.
>
>AHD4 gives a better definition for the current sense  than does M-W.
>
My bartleby.com connection is acting up so I can't try to confirm
this, but I suspect those who spell it as "phased" may be influenced
by that well-known sci-fi weapon, the phaser, which is depicted as
leaving the phasee looking...well, [feizd].

larry