[long] antedating: eggnog (c1774)

[Joel S. Berson]

A correspondent writes me:
>Stuart Flexner, in *Listening to America* (New York: Simon & Schuster,
>1982), p. 171, says "Eggnog was made in England with ale (nog meant strong
>ale) or dry Spanish wine. The word was first recorded in American in 1775,
>by which time it was made with local rum or hard cider by most people, and
>with imported brandy by the rich."
My correspondent tells me Flexner does not cite a source, and not in
*I Hear America Talking* either.

Note that Flexner's dating is within a year or two of Boucher's
assertion of "30 years ago" in his 1806 (1807?) publication.

Joel

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