bird bath

[Bill Palmer]

Don't know about the Army, or "bird bath", but in the Navy the described
ablution was called a "spit bath", or a "Marine bath" (put on your dress
blues and wash anything that shows)

Bill P
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Frank" <paulfrank at POST.HARVARD.EDU>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, July 17, 2010 9:27 AM
Subject: bird bath


> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Paul Frank <paulfrank at POST.HARVARD.EDU>
> Subject:      bird bath
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> An American visitor used the expression "bird bath" yesterday to refer
> to a quick bath, or wash, with very little water. My paper edition of
> the OED doesn't include this meaning of bird bath. DARE does have an
> entry for it. My friend, who's originally from Massachusetts and who
> recently left the army, says that she's always used the term.
>
> Paul
>
> Paul Frank
> Translator
> German, French, Italian > English
> Rue du Midi 1, Aigle, Switzerland
> paulfrank at post.harvard.edu
> paul.frank at bfs.admin.ch
>
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