Gism (1901): something odd

[Jonathan Lighter]

Um, guys?  Openly published 1901. In Philadelphia. About refined ladies of the previous century.

  A mess of "poke" may not be what you think.

  Whatever standard sense of "nectar" is intended, my guess is that "gism" was an undignified term for some or any kind of liquid or "juice."

  My guess too is that "Bellespore" is the name of the estate, possibly meaning "beautiful sowing."

  JL

Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Wilson Gray
Subject: Re: Gism (1901): something odd
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I agree with Mark. I just didn't have the nerve to be the first to say
what seems so clearly obvious that it might be wrong. :-)

-Wilson

On 9/19/07, Mark Mandel wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Mark Mandel
> Subject: Re: Gism (1901): something odd
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I assume 'semen'. I've seen it written "jism".
>
> m a m
>
>
> On 9/18/07, Douglas G. Wilson wrote:
> >
> > From Google Books:
> >
> > ----------
> >
> > E. D. Gillespie, _A Book of Remembrances_ (Lippincott, Philadelphia,
> > 1901): p. 33:
> >
> > <> > story to my grandmother she instantly wrote these verses: / ... /
> > "Now, mother, when we wish to soar / And cut a dash at 'Bellespore,'
> > / You will repeat some vulgarism, / What we call nectar you call gism.">>
> >
> > ----------
> >
> > This verse, ostensibly quoted from E. D. Gillespie's mother, would
> > have been written around 1800, I think. The context: a bookish girl
> > had claimed that her sister had gone out to read poetry ("Night
> > Thoughts"), but their unpretentious mother had spoiled the illusion
> > by saying that the girl had gone out to get "a mess of poke".
> >
> > I don't know what "Bellespore" means ("Belle Espoir"?).
> >
> > What does "gism" mean here?
> >
> > -- Doug Wilson
> >
> >
> > --
> > No virus found in this outgoing message.
> > Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> > Version: 7.5.487 / Virus Database: 269.13.22/1015 - Release Date:
> > 9/18/2007 11:53 AM
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
-Sam'l Clemens

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



---------------------------------
Be a better Globetrotter. Get better travel answers from someone who knows.
Yahoo! Answers - Check it out.

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