Q: A (or several) "housen" in 1747?

[Laurence Horn]

At 8:45 AM -0500 1/16/07, Wilson Gray wrote:
>Yes, you're correct. The OED Online says much the same; one of the the
>etymologies differs from MW3's, but the point is the same: two
>different words fall together as one.
>
>-Wilson

Aha!  Spitten>Spitting image redux!
(albeit involving a strong plural rather than past participle form)
Great stuff.

LH

>
>On 1/14/07, Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at nb.net> wrote:
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>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>
>>Subject:      Re: Q: A (or several) "housen" in 1747?
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>>
>>>Hm. So, today's "housing" in this sense began life as an eggcorn
>>>for "housen"?
>>
>>The dictionaries show "house"/"housing" referring to a horse-cover as
>>etymologically a different word (see "holster", says MW3) from
>>"house"/"housing" referring to buildings.
>>
>>But "housen" is an old not-uncommon alternative plural of "house" =
>>"building". Maybe just the ending was transferred? Or maybe there was a
>>parallel alternative plural of the other "house"? Or maybe it's just
>>"housen" = "housin'"? Or ...? I suppose you'd have to know a lot more than
>>I do about the English of the old days, even to make a good guess.
>>
>>-- Doug Wilson
>>
>>
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