More semantic drift?

[James Harbeck]

>Boucicault certainly knows his octoroons, but he did make one glaring
>error, even for his day. It's the curse of Ham, not Cain.

I suppose he might have worried that his audience would have thought
it a dietary reference... "The curse of ham? How about the curse of
pork chops?"

James Harbeck.

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