"djinn up"

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Jul 19, 2005, at 2:11 PM, i wrote:

> ... "gin up" would seem to make no sense (the "gin" probably is a
> shortening of "ginger", but who knows that now?)

the OED thinks it's from "gin" as in "cotton gin", a shortening of
"engine".  but who knows *that* now?

> ... [1] DARE has "gin up" 'stir up, get something going', and OED2 has
> something similar, marked as U.S. slang.

actually, the OED has a more specialized cite, involving the dummy
object "her", with ambient reference:

-----
U.S. slang. to gin her up: to work things up, to make things ‘hum’,
to work hard.

   1887 F. FRANCIS Jr. Saddle & Mocassin vii. 124 The Apaches were
out to beat hell..And they were ginning her up, and making things a
bit lively, that's a fact!
-----

arnold, who should never do this from memory