"small", the verb

[Jonathan Lighter]

Thus making them smaller?  Or is the idea that he and they were absurdly
small and ineffective to begin with?

Is there even the hint of a possibility that "smalled" in the original was
just a misprint for "slammed"?

It's so weird I wonder.  If legit, my guess is they were small to begin
with.

JL

On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 5:38 AM, Bill Palmer <w_a_palmer at bellsouth.net>wrote:

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> Poster:       Bill Palmer <w_a_palmer at BELLSOUTH.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "small", the verb
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> I'm guessing Welch slammed his hands against his desk.
>
> Bill Palmer
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Monday, August 23, 2010 8:34 PM
> Subject: "small", the verb
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > Subject:      "small", the verb
> >
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> >
> > For the transitive use of "small", the verb, one quotation in the OED is:
> >      1962 'K. ORVIS' Damned & Destroyed xiv. 95 Welch smalled his
> > hands against his desk.
> >
> > I can't visualize this.  What did Welch do?
> >
> > Joel
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