Fwd: Re: Early (1873) link between Hot Dog and Sausage

[Laurence Horn]

me:

>Ah, very nice--but I don't see a logo with an ape-man preparing to
>scarf down the wurst.  (Reminds me of my proposed fast food
>franchises, still untapped as far as I know:  the Slurp 'N' Burp and
>the Scarf 'N' Barf.)
>
>L

Wilson:

>When I was in the Army in 1961, a white buddy tried to persuade me
>that the proper form was "scoff," presumably based on "Escoffier," and
>not "scarf." He failed to convince me of the validity of his argument,
>since it was the case that the normal pronunciation used by black GI's
>was "scoff" and any fool could plainly see that this "scoff" was
>merely the BE pronunciation of "scarf" and had nothing to do with
>Escoffier or whatever.
>
>FWIW, I have now come, over the ensuing years, to accept said buddy's
>argument and I  believe that "scoff" is the original form and that
>"scarf" is a hypercorrection.

Alison:

>I don't know about the derivation from Escoffier, but I agree that "scoff"
>was  the familiar term fifty or more years ago and "scarf" a later
>development.

Me:

Checking with the OED, I find "scoff" (v. 2) recorded over a century
before "scarf" (v. 4).  I'm convinced.  Obviously my Scarf 'N' Barf
chain is merely an egg-Cornish corruption of the original 19th
century British fast-food establishment, the Scoff 'N' Boff.  I'm
sure that somewhere in _My Secret Life_ Walter must have mentioned
stopping in at one of the local franchises for a quickie...er, quick
meal.

Larry