ears peeled

[Arnold Zwicky]

On Jan 26, 2010, at 10:22 AM, Robin Hamilton wrote:

>
> Chicken and egg (I could check) but did "stone blind" (for
> completely blind)
> emerge before, or out of, "sand (semi) blind"?

Larry Horn has now posted OED2's take.

>
> I'd guess the former (I seem to recall it comes up in Shakespeare
> somewhere), but I *am guessing.

Merchant of Venice, Act II, Scene II:

Launcelot Gobbo: ... this is my true-begotten father, who being more
than sand-blind, high-gravel blind, knows me not ...

arnold

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