ex to grind

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Fri, Nov 01, 2002 at 04:00:59PM -0800, Peter Richardson wrote:
> A couple of years ago a Portland muckraking weekly ran an article about a
> notorious and unscrupulous divorce attorney in the area. The article lead
> was something like "Have an Ex to Grind?"
>
> I haven't noticed such entries in RHHDAS--that is, the deliberate word
> play; but then I also haven't read every word of the volumes I have. Does
> anyone know whether such a cite would be fodder for inclusion in a
> subsequent edition?

For what? It could go under _ex_ n. 2 'a former spouse or lover', but
HDAS wouldn't have entries for obvious puns of this sort, as they're
not slang. I'd think that most dictionaries would regarded such uses
as off limits for most purposes.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED