Query: 1910 "squeeze my bit"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 2/23/06, Landau, James <James.Landau at ngc.com> wrote:
> I would guess that "don't try to squeeze my bit" means "don't try to be
> cheap and pay me less than I'm worth"
>
> I also suspect this is a nonce expression, invented by the
> scansion-challenged poet to rhyme with "hit".
>
> Did the term "squeeze" for a bunt exist in 1910?

Dickson has "squeeze play" from 1905 and the verb "squeeze" from 1907.


--Ben

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