"jockey", 1632 [published 1637], antedates 1670-; also "masty"

[Wilson Gray]

On Thu, Aug 26, 2010 at 9:26 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> Of a pig: fattened. Cf. MASTED adj.

Right! And isn't it the case that "mast" is/?was the word for acorns,
chestnuts, and such fallen from the relevant trees used as food for
swine?

It all makes so much sense, now! ;-)

--
-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

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