dialect tidbit

[Wilson Gray]

On Sep 23, 2004, at 9:49 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: dialect tidbit
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>
> "Plague take it" sounds like it used to be a euphemism for 16th-19th
> C. "Pox take it!"
>
> JL
>
Sounds good to me. I've always wondered what the reference was.

-Wilson Gray

> Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:
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> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Wilson Gray
> Subject: Re: dialect tidbit
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>
> On Sep 23, 2004, at 4:33 PM, Orin Hargraves wrote:
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>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>> Poster: Orin Hargraves
>> Subject: Re: dialect tidbit
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>> -
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>>>
>>> I'll add my great-aunt's "good night shirt!!," in which the shirt was
>>> simply added for emphasis. I never heard her swear, but this one and
>>> one
>>> I can't pull together at the moment which started "chicken..." and
>>> was
>>> xclearly another of her euphemisms.
>>>
>> I also had a great aunt (from SW Louisiana), admirable for her
>> avoidance of
>> vulgarisms. Her expression of great surprise was "For garden seed!"
>>
>> Orin Hargraves
>>
>
> Reminds me of my mother's "Merciful speed!" "Plague take it!" and "Dog
> bite it!" are another couple of her favorites.
>
> -Wilson Gray
>
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