bilk vs. balk

[Thomas M. Paikeday]

Thanks, Jesse, your comments (surely with the backing of your OED resources)
have been very helpful. That will settle my argument. I needn't have
bothered the others.

Regards.

TOM PAIKEDAY

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jesse Sheidlower" <jester at PANIX.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2003 10:25 AM
Subject: Re: bilk vs. balk


> 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
>