on the bug

[Grant Barrett]

Damn! Too slow.

On Jul 9, 2005, at 15:10, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:

> On Sat, 9 Jul 2005 12:46:05 -0400, Douglas G. Wilson
> <douglas at NB.NET> wrote:
>
>
>> I believe this refers to a lottery or "numbers game".
>>
>> http://www.lawskills.com/case/ga/id/68027/
>>
>
> That certainly fits Carson McCullers' Georgia background. Here's
> another
> relevant cite:
>
> -----
> Chicago Tribune, Oct 25, 1936, p. E10
> 'We Bet 5 Billion'
> How Lotteries Claim an Army of Suckers
> Numbers Racket Preys on the Small Fry
>
> Atlanta arrests an average of a hundred "bug" agents a month, with
> chain
> gang sentences the rule for second offenders, but most of the folks
> in the
> town, white and black, still play.
> -----
>
>
> --Ben Zimmer
>
>