hairy (1917)

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM
Sat Jul 5 17:42:06 UTC 2008


OED2 does a poor job of separating the slang senses of "hairy."
 
Here's a seemingly unequivocal antedating of the sense "dangerous; hazardous":
 
1917 "Sapper" [Cyril McNeile] _No Man's Land_ (London: Hodder & Stoughton) 92: "This sunken road is always hairy," remarked the signal officer...."It were unwise to linger, sir."
 
JL




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