"dollar per" and sacred cows

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 2:56 PM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> "Early" truncation example from 1920 NYT? I only found this because the
> sentence immediately preceding the "dollar per" refers to steaks from
> sacred cows.
>
> http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9902E7DA173AEE32A2575BC2A9659C946195D6CF
>
> > Why these steaks, ranging from 90 cents to $2? Are they all reverently
> > removed from sacred cows? What mean these soups, these vegetables,
> > these deserts, which apparently are kept from costing a *dollar per*
> > only by tremendous will power on the part of those who compose New
> > York's menus?

OED's got it from 1899.

1899 G. W. PECK Peck's Uncle Ike iii. 31 Listened to a heavenly choir
that is paid a hundred dollars per.


--Ben Zimmer

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