Remarkable Definition & Antedating of "Burgle"

[Fred Shapiro]

1. Bryan Garner points out that the OED has a remarkable definition for
_burglarize_: "To rob burglariously."

2. Here is a slight antedating of the wonderful Penzancian back-formation
_burgle_:


burgle (OED 1872)

1871 _Appleton's Journal of Literature, Science and Art_ 2 Sept. 279
(American Periodical Series)  The following paragraph shows some of the
new words that have been coined by the modern school of journalists: "he
excurted a day or two on beer, and, getting short, he burgled a little.
But he was soon copped and jailed.  The news was immediately wired to his
amiable wife, who railed to him at once."

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
  Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press,
Yale Law School                             forthcoming
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
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