No "lobster back" in the OED?

Joel S. Berson Berson at ATT.NET
Wed Aug 20 22:41:19 UTC 2008


At 8/20/2008 03:12 PM, Jesse Sheidlower wrote:
>On Wed, Aug 20, 2008 at 01:00:41PM -0400, Joel S. Berson wrote:
> > The OED seems not to have "lobster back" = British soldier, although
> > it does have just plain "lobster" "3. a. A contemptuous name for: A
> > British soldier. The name was originally applied to a regiment of
> > Roundhead cuirassiers from their wearing complete suits of armour
> > (cf. 1d above). In later times it has been referred to the
> > characteristic red coat.", from c1643.
> >
> > Should the OED also include "lobster back"?
>
>Yes.
>
>Jesse Sheidlower
>OED

NTAIW.  Now I'll have to track it down.  :-)   (Since it's in quotes
in a tertiary source, I don't know yet whether the secondary source
also quotes it and cites a primary source.  But if so, the date will
be pre-Revolutionary by nearly 30 years.)

I will not trace the modern usage for something in heating,
ventilation, and sheet-metal work (e.g., "lobster cowl"), which seems
to go back to 1822 -- An Historical and Descriptive Account of the
Steam Engine: Comprising a ... - Page 61
by Charles Frederick Partington - Steam-engines - 1822 [Google Books].

Joel

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



More information about the Ads-l mailing list