bilk vs. balk

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Wed, May 14, 2003 at 09:53:44AM -0400, Thomas M. Paikeday wrote:

> Could someone (Jesse, Fred, Paul, Erin, Luanne, Frank)
> please help/unhelp me in an argument with a non-linguist
> friend who claims that the original (believed to be obsolete
> since mid-19th c.) cribbage meaning of "bilk", namely, "to
> balk or spoil the score of (an opponent, opponent's crib)"
> (SOED, 2002, #B1) persists in current English?

Sure, you could find an example where this sense is used.

> Is there any evidence showing that an utterance like "Jack
> bilked Jill out of $100" could mean something slightly
> different from "evade payment of (a creditor, a bill)" (SOED
> #B2)? Something that may be cited in extenuation of Jack's
> behaviour, that's to say, he only hindered or disappointed
> Jill? In other words, is the first part of B2 ("balk
> expectation etc.") substantiated by evidence? (My OED1992 is
> not very helpful, the citations stopping with the 19th c.).

I haven't seen any such evidence, and I'd be willing to bet
that if you asked a whole lot of people what _bilk_ means in
a sentence like "Jack bilked Jill out of $100," you'd never
find someone who would suggest "It means he hindered her."

Even if the cribbage sense is in use today--perhaps it is,
among cribbage players--I don't believe it has any relevance
to the current usage.

> Simply put, does the "balk" meaning apply in the above
> utterance where a sum of money is mentioned?

No.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED