scoff/scarf

[Laurence Horn]

At 11:05 AM -0400 8/30/07, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
>On 8/30/07, Laurence Urdang <urdang at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>>
>>  Since the first quote in the OED for scoff is the same year when
>>he was born, it is
>>  rather unlikely (but, for some, not impossible) that it was formed
>>on the name of
>>  Auguste Escoffier.
>>    I first encountered it in the UK, in the 1970s.  Later, when I
>>encountered scarf
>>  among native speakers in the New York area, it occurred to me that it was a
>>  resurrection (hypercorrection, if you prefer) of the r-less form
>>scoff by those speakers
>>  who want listeners to know that they are aware there is an "r" in
>>the spelling of a word,
>>  which, of course, there wasn't---at least if one compares the
>>history of scoff and scarf
>>  in the OED.
>>    I wanted to check it in the Century, but I couldn't get it on
>>line and was too lazy to pick
>>  up the volume in the next room.
>>    Also, the meaning has always seemed to me closer to 'gorge
>>oneself; eat voraciously'
>>  than to 'eat heartily.'
>
>I was able to access the Century online without a problem:
>http://www.global-language.com/CENTURY/
>
>Under "scoff, v." one sense is "To eat hastily; devour [Naut. slang]".
>The Supplement also shows a sense of the noun, "Food; 'grub.' [Slang]"
>(quoting Kipling). Nothing relevant for "scarf".
>
>I first encountered the gluttonous sense of "scarf" in my childhood,
>reading a collection of Peanuts comic strips. In one strip, Snoopy
>observes that "one of the great joys in life is scarfing down junk
>food." I can't find a dating for that strip (though the saying turns
>up on Peanuts merchandise now) -- I'd guess it was early to mid-'70s.
>
>--Ben Zimmer
>

I recall once, when I had too much time on my hands and had passed
too many similarly named establishments, coming up with the "Scarf
'N' Barf" as a name for an undistinguished fast food franchise.  Just
down the road from the "Slurp 'N' Burp".

LH

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