Aguardiente (1810); Tronc (1853); Blame Game

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AGUARDIENTE

TRAVELS THROUGH THE EMPIRE OF MOROCCO
by John Buffa
London: J. J. Stockdale
1810

Pg. 69:  When we reached the house of the Vice-consul, I was presented with a glass of _aguardiente_, for refreshment.

Pg. 182:  ..._cous-ca-sou_...

Pg. 216:  Having drank too much _aguardiente_, they imagined themselves in the streets of Gibraltar.

(OED has 1818 or 1824 for "aguardiente"--ed.)

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TRONC

BOGUE'S GUIDES FOR TRAVELLERS
II.  SWITZERLAND AND SAVOY
London: David Bogue
1853

Pg. 260:  They have a very nice chapel, adorned with paintings, and in it is a "_tronc_," or chairty-box, where travellers who partake of the hospitality of the kind monks ordinarily deposit alms, not of less amount than they would be charged at an inn, though the shelter and Hospice are entirely without charge.

(OED has 1928 for "tronc"--ed.)

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BLAME GAME

"The coiner--or at least, the political popularizer--was President Ronald Reagan in a television address to the nation on Oct. 14, 1982."
--William Safire, "On Language," NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, 2 June 2002.

   This stuff is awful.
   I know, I know--William Safire is entitled to a free ride to say anything he wants about anything, without correction or criticism.  And responding to me after 10+ years would lose the War for the Allies or something.
   But this is wrong: Ronald Reagan didn't coin "blame game," and he didn't popularize it either.  I recall it being used in the 1960s (about the Vietnam War), when the phrase "the name of the game" was also popular.
   A quick search turns up:

THE BLAME GAME
by Daniel Whiteside
Sande/Whiteside Associates, BFA Educational Media
Film 1 film reel (20 min.)
1974

(BOB CARR DISCUSSES U.S. FOREIGN POLICY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA)
by Bob Carr and Craig Halverson
Sound Recording: Non-music 1 sound tape reel
1975
Abstract:  Carr says the American people are tired of the "blame game" regarding Southeast Asia, that the credibility of American government on Capitol Hill is more important than what might be thought of us overseas.  With Craig Halverson.
Note:  Broadcast on WKAR-TV, April 1975.

KNOWING ME, KNOWING YOU
Coronet Instructional Media
Visual Material: Filmstrip: Primary school
1977, 1976
Contents:  The I feel game.--The you feel game.--The no blame game.--The I want-you want game.