Folk wisdom: "Treat 'em Rough !" (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Michael Quinion]

> >Unless the word "roger" above means "to copulate with"
>
> that would be my reading [I think 'screw' might be a more accurate
> gloss], although I admit 1970 does seem a bit late for that usage

George MacDonald Fraser's "Royal Flash" is about the supposed 19th century
adventures of the cowardly bully Flashman from Tom Brown's Schooldays. For
him at that period, "roger" would be the right word.


--
Michael Quinion
Editor, World Wide Words
E-mail: wordseditor at worldwidewords.org
Web: http://www.worldwidewords.org

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