Exposure to language

[Beverly Flanigan]

Love that "stinks."  In fact, I've never brought up our old 'dish" usage in
polite society, since I've always assumed it was narrowly regional and
maybe even just my family's euphemism (but why 'dish'?).  But now I suspect
this was Randolph's meaning in Missouri, too, so it may be more widespread
than I thought?

At 01:45 PM 12/13/2002 -0500, you wrote:
> >Footnote:  I still can't say "dish the dirt."
> >----------
> >Perfect!  But Randolph's story has a particular resonance for me (and it
> >probably did for him too), because in my childhood in Minnesota our term
> >for 'shit' was in fact 'dish'.  But we used old catalogs, not rags. . . .
> >
> >Was this use of 'dish' in the vocabularies of any of the rest of you
> >oldtimers?
>  ~~~~~~~~~
>I can't remember ever hearing this. I'm wondering has it tainted other uses
>of "dish," too?  Was it thought of as a euphemism?  So many euphemisms
>retain the stinks of their illegitimate employment when back in their old
>jobs.
>A. Murie