"cheese hound" --thanx

[Gerald Cohen]

   Thanx for the responses on "cheese hound." They let me know that if
I wrote "meaning unknown" I would not be zapped by something obvious.

    I've now done something I should have done at the beginning, viz.
I took at look at _RHHDAS_. Under "cheese" (meaning 1c.) I find "a
splendid thing--usually constr. with real."  The first example is
from 1901.

    This meaning fits the "cheese hound" quote nicely. The dog in the
quote is truly splendid (e.g., it wags its tail in seven languages).
I've seen several articles on dog shows in the _San Francisco
Bulletin_, and although I did not read them with the same care as I
did the baseball columns, I never noticed mention of "cheese hounds."

     "Cheese" (= splendid) was clearly slang--wholly appropriate for
"Sporting Tit-Bits by 'Mac,'" which was a lively, humorous
column--filled with puns, slang, etc. And as part of his humor, Mac
presented "cheese hound" (splendid dog) in such a way that it seemed
to be a breed of dog ("great Siberian cheese hound").

     That seems to be what's going on with the quote.

---Gerald Cohen

>    The quote appears on May 31, 1913, p.10, col. 5, in 'Sporting
>Tit-Bits by "Mac"':
>
>'Charley Cleaver's great Siberian cheese hound, King C., took much
>delight in showing up all comers at the dog show in Dreamland rink
>yesterday.  Mr. Cleaver's daring cheese hound has it on all rivals.
>Cleaver's pet canine can wag his tail in seven languages, and orders
>"ine stein" with all the eclat of a Teuton fully illuminated at a
>Schutzenfest.  Mr. Cleaver's canine was recently imported from
>Vladivostok.  He is frequently on exhibition at Mr. Cleaver's place
>of call on Steiner and Sutter streets.  Cleaver swears by the cheese
>hound and is willing to take an affidavit that even his hair is
>imported.'


---Gerald Cohen