"Q: "show me out [something]" = show to me?

[Joel S. Berson]

OK, I concede, somewhat.  /snide comment on/ But
my further research has revealed an abysmal lack
of knowledge of the Hebrew Testament on the part
of this list (and myself).  /snide comment off/

The character in the play fearfully pleading "Oh
save me! Caleb, shew me out the postern ... Bar
the gates; No doubt they come to forage. Where's
the postern?" is Doeg (I named him in my initial
query), of I Samuel 21-22.  Doeg has seen David,
at Nob, being given bread and Goliath's sword by
the priest Ahimelech.  Doeg, the chief herdsman
of Saul, tells him this, but conceals the fact
that David had deceived Ahimelech by saying he
was on a mission for Saul.  Saul, believing Doeg,
thinks Ahimelech and the priests of Nob have been
traitorious, and orders his footmen to kill
Ahimelech  When they refuse, Doeg steps forward
and kills "fourscore and five" priests of
Nob.  When David hears of this, he assumes
responsibility for these deaths (he had seen
Doeg, and knew he would tell Saul).  [abstracted
from the King James version, online]

The playwright Coxe -- but not the Hebrew
Testament -- places Doeg at Nabal's
farmstead.  He would naturally be fearful of
"David's ruffians", as he refers to them in the
same speech.  Later in the play Doeg is back with Saul.

Therefore I agree that "shew me out the postern"
in this context can mean "escort me out the back
way".  It could also, but does not have to, mean
(as I wondered) "show me where the back gate is"
(an interpretation supported by Doeg's asking
"Where's the postern?" ); in this case, Doeg would see himself out the gate.

Joel

At 2/6/2008 11:47 AM, Andrea Morrow wrote:
> >        Doesn't it seem more likely that the speaker is asking to be
> > escorted out the back way (the postern)?
> >
> >
> > John Baker
> >
>
>Yes, that is how it seems to me, too - of the same type of
>construction as "show me out the door,"  meaning "walk with me to the
>door."  Admittedly, this use of "show [someone] out the door" can have
>negative connotations ("throw [someone] out"), but I've also heard it
>used in a neutral way, and I've found some hits for that more neutral
>use on google as well.  Here's an example from a blog, just posted
>this morning:
>
>"Xander let her show him out the door, still slightly unsettled.
>Seeing Dawn was great, but he had this nagging feeling that he'd been
>meaning to ask
 some kind of question
 to
 someone."
>http://deird1.livejournal.com/35644.html
>
>
>Andrea
>
>
>
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> > Of Joel S. Berson
> > Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 10:55 AM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: "Q: "show me out [something]" = show to me?
> >
> > In an 1845 play, I find "Oh save me! Caleb, shew me out the postern ...
> > Bar the gates; No doubt they come to forage. Where's the postern?"
> >
> > I take this to mean "show [to] me the postern; show me where the postern
> > is."
> >
> > OED2 has only, under "VI. intr. To be seen, be visible, appear,"
> > sense 34, "show out.  a. ? To become visible, emerge from obscurity or
> > concealment; fig. to exhibit one's true character," 1839 through 1888.
> >
> > Does my reading seem correct, and a transitive use might be added to the
> > OED?
> >
> > Joel
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
>--
>Andrea Morrow
>Director of Writing Programs
>Stephen M. Ross School of Business
>The University of Michigan
>Room ER3615 Executive Residence
>Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1234
>aandrea at umich.edu
>734.763.9317
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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