"Love muscle"

[Laurence Horn]

Not to be confused with the Love Mussel:  cf.
http://www.thetoque.net/050111/love_mussel.htm


At 3:36 PM -0500 2/17/05, Wilson Gray wrote:
>I agree. Assuming that my old war-buddy said "-muzzle" every time that
>he used the term, which was a lot, in the barracks environment, why did
>I hear it as "-muscle," until he corrected me when I tried to use it?
>Probably because the first thing that came to mind was "muzzle" as in
>"muzzle for a dog," which made no sense. It made more sense to assume
>that he was mispronouncing "muscle." In fact, even as I was writing my
>original post, I lost track of the point for a couple of seconds,
>because "muzzle for a dog" popped into my head, causing me to block on
>"muzzle of a hose" or "muzzle of a firearm."
>
>-Wilson
>
>On Feb 17, 2005, at 9:42 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
>>Subject:      Re: "Love muscle"
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>--------
>>
>>Don't know about "love muzzle," Wilson.  Word is quite unfamiliar to
>>me.  The implied ordnance metaphor isn't very apropos, all things
>>being considered.
>>
>>
>>JL
>>
>>Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>Sender: American Dialect Society
>>Poster: Wilson Gray
>>Subject: "Love muscle"
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>--------
>>
>>HDAS dates this to at least 1958. I didn't hear it till 1960. However,
>>FWIW, my "informant," a white sailor from Camden, NJ, told me that I
>>was overcorrecting - or words to that effect. According to him, the
>>proper term is "love _muzzle_," which is not in HDAS.
>>
>>-Wilson Gray
>>
>>
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