"tom-cod", 1769, U.S., antedates OED2; ? = "small fry"?

[Wilson Gray]

On Sun, Aug 1, 2010 at 11:44 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> sense 3, "Young fishes just produced from the
> spawn." [In passing, _shouldn't that be "young
> *fish*_?]

Probably not. _Fishes_ was still the usual plural - at least in Saint
Louis and points south - in both print, especially in the titles of
plates (Fishes and Other Aquatic Life of The Gulf of Mexico), and
speech by the time that, During The War, I had learned to read.
Indeed, the plural _fish_ in place of _fishes_ still feels a little
fishy to me.

Cf. also the title of a popular song of the day,

"Three Little _Fishes_." Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge.

-Wilson
–––
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.
–Mark Twain

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