"play Copenhagen"

[Jonathan Lighter]

That didn't occur to me, but the primary OED ex. of the relevant sense (def. 30) doesn't appear till 1886.

  Nor does the context of "play Copenhagen" lend much support to that interpretation.

  JL

Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Stephen Goranson
Subject: Re: "play Copenhagen"
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Quoting Jonathan Lighter :

> "Copenhagen" isn't in OED. The meaning is not clear.
>
> 1846 _Knickerbocker_ XLVII 405: Elly is a real blonde beauty: and
> neither of them seem [sic] likely to scream on the stair-case, or
> play Copenhagen.
>
> JL

Just guessing, but wouldn't "play Copenhagen" mean sing there in
concert rather
than play a game named Copenhagen?

Stephen

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