Teen follies

[Wilson Gray]

FWIW, I'm with Jon on this.

-Wilson, who, as a toddler, lived in Houston

On 12/14/06, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Teen follies
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Beat (all) hollow" has been part of  my ordinary vocabulary since childhood.  Its earliest known appearance was before the Revolution, though other verbs with "hollow" go back many decades earlier:
>
>   1759 James Townley _High Life Below Stairs_ (London: J. Newbery et al.) 12: They lost every Match...._Crab_ was beat hollow, _Careless_ threw his rider.
>
>   (BTW, this beats OED by nearly thirty years for "beat hollow.")
>
>   Origin unclear.
>
>   JL
>
>
> "Emily G. Cunningham" <egcunningham at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
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> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: "Emily G. Cunningham"
> Subject: Re: Teen follies
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I'm sorry to interrupt this thread with a non sequitur, but I'd never heard
> the phrase "beat all hollow" before. What is its origin? What does it mean?
> (besides "thoroughly beat", I presume...)
>
> Thanks!
> Emily Cunningham
> Law Librarian & Dialect Hobbyist
> Houston, TX
>
> On 12/14/06, Arnold M. Zwicky wrote:
> >
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> > Sender: American Dialect Society
> > Poster: "Arnold M. Zwicky"
> > Subject: Re: Teen follies
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > On Dec 14, 2006, at 11:50 AM, Beverly Flanigan wrote:
> >
> > > Don't forget to share the award with NPR.
> > >
> > > At 12:35 PM 12/14/2006, you wrote:
> >
> > >> ... we're thinking of
> > >> giving [BBC News] some kind of award for their reporting on
> > >> language issues.
> >
> > oh, BBC News has NPR beat all hollow in *news reporting*.
> >
> > arnold
> >
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>
> --
> Emily G. Cunningham
> egcunningham at gmail.com
> 214.392.5114
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--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
-Sam'l Clemens

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