equidating "to the nines" (1787-)

[Joel S. Berson]

Last Saturday, one of those notorious villains, (distinguished by the
appellation of sharper) dressed in his laced cloaths, and powdered
off to the nines, went on board of a brig, bound for Calais.

Independent Gazetteer [Philadelphia], 24 March 1787, page 2, col. 3
[letter addressed "Mr. Oswald, signed "Lutius"].
[Early American Newspapers]

Joel

At 10/3/2007 07:32 AM, Stephen Goranson wrote:
>Whether an antedating or no, perhaps it's worth noting in order to ask:
>what has
>Ben Bowline got to do with it? [The e in Ben is upsidedown, which may affect
>searches.]
>
>The Herald, (New York, NY) Saturday, March 11, 1837; Issue 310; page 2, col D
>     The Penny Wedding Category: News  [19th C US Newspapers]
>[It begins:] A circumstance of a very engaging nature occurred last week at a
>house in the Broadway...which almost realized the Arabian tale of Aben Hassan.
>One evening a smart young mechanic, "dressed to the nines," as Ben Bowline
>says, might have been seen wending his way along broadway. His ais [sic--air?]
>is thoughtful, yet gay--and his step light and elastic, betokens that
>"Some unaccustomed spirit
>Lifts him above the ground"....
>
>Stephen Goranson
>http://www.duke.edu/~goranson
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org