Anyone for _surf and turf_?

[Laurence Horn]

Here's a chance to make sure this is eventually cited in its correct
form, hopefully with due credit given.  Please send suggestions to
the original poster below as well as copying the list.  I'm assuming
that the writer's "I've not had much luck" concession, combined with
his willingness to ask, is a good omen.  As is often the case, it's
not clear if he's actually interested in first cites, etymology, or
both.

(What I know about _surf and turf_, besides the fact that it fits the
pattern of other such rhyming pairs, is that it also fits the pattern
of other "fixed binominals" or "freezes" in which the item denoting
fish precedes the item denoting meat, as Cooper and Ross discuss in
their 1975 "World Order" paper.  That and 15 cents would have once
gotten me on the subway, but without surf or turf.)

Larry

--- begin forwarded text

To: laurence.horn at yale.edu
From: Jim DeWan <jdewan at covad.net>
Subject: Dianne Jonas sent me
Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 14:52:39 -0600

Dear Mr. Horn,

I am a food journalist, researching the origin of the term "surf and
turf" ("surf 'n turf"), and I wonder if you might be able to lend me
any assistance. So far, I've not had much luck.

Thanks in advance. I look forward to hearing from you.

Warmly - Jim DeWan

--- end forwarded text