Antedating? of "shot his wad" 1882!

[Sam Clements]

A further search using NewspaperArchive has produced an earlier cite, but
not quite as clear cut.

24 Nov. 1882  _Bismark(ND Territory) Weekly Tribune_ p.8, col 1.

<<"Doc" Jewell went out gunning Saturday and met with his usual good luck,
shot his wad and killed the strength of considerable powder.>>

So, making a pretty rational assumption, this is used as a metaphor, derived
from a gun/shooting sense.

While not conclusive, can we suggest that the metaphor came from
guns/shooting?

Sam Clements


----- Original Message -----
From: "Sam Clements" <SClements at NEO.RR.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2004 3:09 PM
Subject: Antedating? of "shot his wad" 1896


If I missed an earlier cite from the archives, sorry.  I DID search.

OED has 1914, DN.

NewspaperArchive has a 1900 use.

ProQuest yields, from the LA Times,20 Aug. 1896, pg. 6  A story about Wm.
Jennings Bryant.  (reprinted from the San Antonio(TX) Express)

<<Mr. Bryan, in the language of the hoi polloi, has "shot his wad." From an
oratorical point of view it fell short of the expectations of the people.
It brought down no roofs and inspired no crowds to frenzy, likewise it
captured no nomination.>>

Sam Clements

P.S.  If anyone can cite the first use of the term in a sexual connotation,
I would be grateful.