"scrunch," v.t., antedating
Charles Doyle
cdoyle at UGA.EDU
Sat Jul 8 14:39:44 UTC 2006
I too (all my life) have heard "rench"--though I would have spelled it (certainly pronounced it) "rinch"--as a variant of "rinse."
In the context of that "scrubbing machine," I'll bet the "u" in "runched" represents a barred-i.
--Charlie
____________________________________
---- Original message ----
>Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 20:12:19 -0400
>From: sagehen <sagehen at WESTELCOM.COM>
>Subject: Re: "scrunch," v.t., antedating
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
>
>>OED2 offers 1861 from the English journalist George A. Sala, but here's a
>>slightly earlier example from NYC:
>>
>> 1856 _Knickerbocker_ (May) XLVII 509: His complexion looked as if it had all been made of the hardest and toughest kind of folds, which had been rubbed, and _runched_, and _scrunched_ down into shape like a twist of clothes in a scrubbing-machine.
>>
>> "Runch" seems to be unlisted (var. of "wrench"?), but I haven't checked DARE. I wonder what a "scrubbing-machine" was like in 1856? OED doesn't list it either.
>
>> JL
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>"Rench" was a commonly-heard variant on "rinse" when I was a kid. Don't know what light this might shed here.
>AM
>
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