"opening the kimono" (1979?, 1984)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 15:56:36 -0500, Mullins, Bill
<Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL> wrote:

>Maryland | Annapolis | Evening Capital | 1979-05-09
>"Pledged projects get axed" by Jennifer Clough, p. 8 col 6.
>" "We started four years ago with opening the kimono (budget book) and
>now we're caught without our underwear," said Councilman Ronald C.
>McGuirk, D-Glen Burnie."

Good find. I should also note that Alan Dundes and Robert A. Georges
recorded the bawdy book title, "The Open Kimono, by Seymour Hare," way
back in 1962 ("Some Minor Genres of Obscene Folklore," _Jrnl. Amer.
Folklore_ 75:226). In the same article, Dundes and Georges give a number
of "Wanton Daughter Puns," leading off with our old friend, "She was only
the stablekeeper's daughter, but all the horsemen knew 'er."



--Ben Zimmer