Oddness from Dallas Morning News

[Wilson Gray]

Is this "free puff" perhaps ancestral to the moden "puff piece"?

-Wilson

On 9/6/05, Mullins, Bill <Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject:      Oddness from Dallas Morning News
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Anti-Slang" (from the Tyler Record)
> Dallas News 1888-03-17  Page 4
> "A _free puff_ in the Record awaits the local society or circle in Tyler
> which will adopt an anti-slang plank.  Now hump yourselves."
>
> I am sure that this means "make an effort" rather than "screw yourself".
> But, still . . .
>


--
-Wilson Gray