Antedating of "Suck"

[ronbutters at AOL.COM]

So we just ignore the reported fact that the abbreviation was "b.e." Or was it "b--e"?
------Original Message------
From: Joel S. Berson
Sender: ADS-L
To: ADS-L
ReplyTo: ADS-L
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Antedating of "Suck"
Sent: Jul 2, 2010 8:49 AM

At 7/1/2010 07:34 PM, Mark Mandel wrote:
>"Bunghole" and "bumhole" are both good candidates for this 1772
>usage. From OED:
>
>...
>
>bum-hole:
>slang (chiefly Brit.).
>ARSEHOLE n. (in various senses). In early use: spec. the anus; =
>ARSEHOLE n. 1.
>1611 J. FLORIO Queen Anna's New World of Words at Trullo, A trill or bum-hole.
>1665 J. PHILLIPS tr. P. Scarron Typhon i. 5 Ran as swift from Pole to
>Pole, As if h'd had at his bum-hole The God of Fire.

IIRC I've seen "bumhole" in 18th-c. writing.  (The OED has only one
quotation for this oft-slighted century, 1713.)

Joel

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


Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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