Antedating of Bazooka(the instrument) 1918

[Amy West]

I'm going to suggest another body part for the "bazooka" based purely
on the formula in some medieval lit of describing someone in battle
being split "from head to saddle": I think "bazooka" might be
groin/penis. I really like the pattern of cleave-bazooka-falchion and
the accent. "Cleave" and "falchion" I think really stick out in terms
of the diction of the passage.

---Amy West

>P. G. Wodehouse, _The Swoop_ (1909) [Project Gutenberg] (Ch. 6):
>
><<"'Ow about not waiting, chaps?" he suggested. "I shouldn't 'arf wonder,
>from the look of him, if he wasn't the 'aughty kind of a feller who'd
>cleave you to the bazooka for tuppence with his bloomin' falchion. I'm
>goin' to 'urry through with my dressing and wait till to-morrow night to
>see how he looks. No risks for Willie!">>
>
>----------
>
>By analogy with the usual "cleave [someone] to the
>brisket/waist/teeth/etc." I suppose "bazooka" here refers to a body part.
>My casual guess would be that it's an alteration of "bosom" (cf. "bazooka"
>= "bazoomba" = "bazoom" = "breast"). Any relation to the musical
>instrument's name?
>
>-- Doug Wilson

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