scoff/scarf

[Jonathan Lighter]

Both _scoff_ and _scarf_ are known in the US.  _Scoff_ used to be (a hundred
and more years ago) associated with deep-sea sailors. _Scarf_ (perhaps
surprisingly) first shows up in AAVE and begins to move into WAVE in the
'60s.

Or so the limited records indicate.

JL
On Mon, Jan 25, 2010 at 1:11 AM, Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: scoff/scarf
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I knew and used only "scarf."  OED has scoff/scaff/scarf, giving
> "scoff" as the dominant variant of "scaff" and "scarf" as an American
> variant.  I just came across "scoff" in RA Delderfield's _To Serve
> them all my Days_, p. 87, "to scoff tea and chudleys."  I don't know
> if that's St. Louis usage, though.
>
> Herb
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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