"the goose"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Yeah, back in my day that kind of _goose_ was one of those words nice people
didn't even use.

JL


On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 9:25 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "the goose"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Over the years, I've discovered that fewer and fewer young people know
> what the literal meaning of "to goose (someone)" is. They're familiar
> with derived meanings like "_goose_ the throttle." But, these days, no
> one avoids turning his back in the presence of another for fear of
> being goosed in the sense that obtained During The War.
>
> -Wilson
>
> On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 11:14 PM, Jonathan Lighter
> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      "the goose"
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > As OED explains, to "get the goose" was old-time theatrical slang meaning
> to
> > be hissed on stage. Evidently it soon came to mean to be hissed *off* the
> > stage, as suggested by this uncommon U.S. ex., which goes further to mean
> > "reject dismissively; dismiss." (Cf. the identical development of to
> "give
> > someone the bird," now subsumed under "to flip the bird.")
> >
> > 1879 _Daily Arkansas Gazette_ (Little Rock, Ark.) (Apr. 1) (unp.): "Give
> > Ginocchio the Goose." Don't Vote for a Man Who'd Sell You Out. Knock Him
> > Down with the Club of Ballot Box Retribution.
> >
> > The last phrase is really catchy, once you say it enough.  Listen for it
> in
> > November!
> >
> > JL
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
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>
>
> --
> -Wilson
> –––
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> –Mark Twain
>
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-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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