"knock" vt. & esp. n. (1560 antedates 1933?)

[Joel S. Berson]

At 7/23/2010 11:44 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>At 10:43 AM -0400 7/23/10, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>>At 7/23/2010 01:12 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>>>Interesting!
>>
>>The full definition for "knock, v." sense 2.d is "To copulate with;
>>also, to make pregnant. So in phr. to knock a child (or an apple) out
>>(of)."  [For "apple", the OED has 1818; for "child", 1922 Joyce.]
>>
>>A fun citation is "1604 MARSTON Malcontent III. iii. sig. E2v Haue
>>beate my Shoomaker, knockt my Sempstres, cuckold my Pottecary, and
>>vndone my Taylor."
>>
>>'Way down at 18.j is "To make (a woman) pregnant; (less commonly) to
>>have sexual intercourse with (a woman). slang (orig. U.S.).
>>     1813 C. EARLE Diary 12 Apr. in J. McPhee Pine Barrens (1971) ii.
>>33 William Mick's widow arrived here in pursuit of J. Mick, who she
>>says has knocked her up."
>>
>>Joel
>
>Farmer & Henley provide a 1560 cite under their entry for KNOCK
>'copulate', but it seems to illustrate if anything the related
>substantival subentries (KNOCK (1) 'an act of coition' (2) 'the
>penis':
>
>1560 Nice Wanton [Dodsley] Goldlocks She must have knocks, Or else I
>do her wrong.

This would seem to *way* antedate the OED.  "knock, n.1", sense 5.a,
"(An act of) copulation; so on the knock, engaged in
prostitution.    b. Austral. Phr. to do a knock with: (see quot.
1941)."  First cite "1933 N. LINDSAY Saturdee 138 Supposin' I was to
do a knock with girls, what 'ud I say to them?"

>1598 FLORIO, Worlde of Wordes, _cunnuta_, a woman nocked.

The OED has the Florio as its first cite for "knock" as a verb with this sense.


>The F&H entry for the related (as they see it) NOCK (v.) (cf. "nok
>her with his Prick" in the Maine cite below) provides, along with the
>same Florio cite above, this much later one:
>
>1775 ASH, Dict. NOCK, to perform the act of generation on a female.

The OED does not put the sense of "copulate" under "nock"  (it's
where I first looked for "nok").  Does the placement of some of the
quotations need to be reconsidered?

Joel


>LH
>
>
>
>>>On Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 6:25 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>>>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>-----------------------
>>>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>>  Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>>>>  Subject:      "knock" vt. = 'copulate with' 1702 interdates OED
>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>
>>>>  "knock" v. = 'copulate with' 1702; interdates OED2 sense 2.d 1604--1785.
>>>>
>>>>  Province and Court Records of Maine,
>>>>  Vol. IV:
>>>>  The Court Records of York County, Maine,
>>>>  Province of Massachusetts Bay,
>>>>  November, 1692 -- January, 1710--11.
>>>>  Portland: Maine Historical Society, 1958.
>>>>
>>>>  5 January 1702/03.
>>>>
>>>>  p. 288.
>>>>  The sd Sarah tiny [sic] ... doth testifie & Saye that ... John Ame
>>>>  [sic] came ... & Swore by God that I had promised him he Should nok
>>>>  mee ly with mee & withall he took hold of mee & Threw mee Down &
>>>>  pulled up my Close Shewed all my Nakedness & Run into the house
>>>after Mee ...
>>>>
>>>>  p. 289.
>>>>  Elizabeth Tyler ... doth Testifie & Seay that She ... Saw John Amee &
>>>>  Sarah Tinny ... & both of them run up in the Chamber Shee first & him
>>>>  after but he Staid little while there but come down againe ... & Shee
>>>>  after him ... but when She [Tinny] Come downe Shee [Tyler] hard
>>>>  [heard] the sd Sarah Tiny [sic] Call him Indian dog & bee for that he
>>>>  Said Sarah you promised me to let me ly with you & now I will ly ...
>>>>  [ellipsis in original] with you & Shee run behind my back & he Puled
>>>>  her out and said he would kik and nok you & the sd Sarah Tinny asked
>>>>  sd Mee where he would nok her with a hatchet or hamer but he sd he
>>>>  would nok her with his Prick ...
>>>>
>>>>  [The free-wheeling and free-writing colonial district of Maine.]
>>>  >
>>>>  Joel
>>>>
>>>>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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