fighting for punk

[George Thompson]

Very good, JL

GAT

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.

----- Original Message -----
From: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
Date: Thursday, July 15, 2010 10:27 pm
Subject: Re: fighting for punk
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU

> Alluding to a once-familiar line in _Hudibras_ by Samuel Butler
> (1612-1680):
>
>
> "When civil dudgeon first grew high,
> And men fell out, they knew not why:
> When hard words, jealousies, aud fears,
> Set folks together by the ears,
> And made them fight, like mad or drunk,
> For Dame Religion as for punk...."
>
>
> Where "punk" means "whore."
>
> Presumably the two were fighting over a lady of ill repute.
>
> JL
>
>
> On Thu, Jul 15, 2010 at 9:35 PM, George Thompson <george.thompson at nyu.edu>wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       George Thompson <george.thompson at NYU.EDU>
> > Subject:      fighting for punk
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > A fellow in Georgetown, . . . fighting "for punk," had his nose
> taken off
> > by the teeth of his antagonist.
> > New York Transcript, March 4, 1836, p. 2, col. 1
> >
> > I don't see anything in the OED that's clearly related.
> > "punk", noun, #3 (core idea is "Soft decayed or rotten wood"): sense
> 4.
> > colloq. Something worthless; foolish or meaningless talk; nonsense,
> rubbish,
> > from 1869 --- supposing "fighting for punk" meant something like
> "empty or
> > wanton violence"
> >
> > "punk", noun, #1 (core idea is "prostitute", &c.): sense 3,: a despicable
> > or contemptible person; (broadly) a person, a fellow (rare);(b) a petty
> > criminal; a hoodlum, a thug. is much later (1904)
> >
> > Nothing in DARE.
> > Nothing in Jonathon Green's Chambers Slang Dictionary
> >
> > GAT
> >
> > George A. Thompson
> > Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
> > Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > 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

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