slang "scotsh" = shirt, 1879;

[Jonathan Lighter]

Quite unknown to me.

  JL

"Cohen, Gerald Leonard" <gcohen at UMR.EDU> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Cohen, Gerald Leonard"
Subject: slang "scotsh" = shirt, 1879;
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An unusual word has apparently turned up in an item drawn to ads-l attention by Barry Popik: "scotsh" = shirt. I say apparently because Barry labeled this item "illegible" and my check of the microfilm shows it to be just barely decipherable.

The initial "S" is clear; the "t" before the "sh" is semi-clear; and the two letters after "S" are very badly blurred but are of the shorter variety, i.e, they don't come up to the height of a "t", "h" or "k".)

The definition of the term is "Shirt"; all the letters of this word are readily decipherable except for the "h" (which might conceivably be a "k"). But I looked very hard at this letter today and had the impression it's "h."

I assume that "scotsh" is a variant of "Scottish" (OED presents a "Scot'sh," although not with a relevant meaning). If any lexicographers have "scotsh" in their files, I'd be grateful to hear of it. I've prepared a reprinting of the article (plus glossary) for publication in Studies in Slang, vol. 7, with Barry listed as the author.

The 1879 item is: "Professional Slang of Ye Dramatic Artist, Ye Variety Performer and He Circus Man," (in _Cincinnati Enquirer_, 7 September 1879, p. 10, col. 7).

Gerald Cohen

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