"the goose"

[Wilson Gray]

And, if they were female, may not even have known. But, of course,
their (male) kids used it. Oddly, even today, I find the act hard to
describe. My wife, amazed to discover that "goosing" someone to get
him started had a literal meaning, asked me to describe what it was. I
couldn't bring myself to do it. I could only hem and haw.

-Wilson

On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 9:27 AM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "the goose"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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
>> -----------------------
>> 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
>> -----------------------
>> > 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 meani=
> ng
>> to
>> > be hissed on stage. Evidently it soon came to mean to be hissed *off* t=
> he
>> > stage, as suggested by this uncommon U.S. ex., which goes further to me=
> an
>> > "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.): "Giv=
> e
>> > Ginocchio the Goose." Don't Vote for a Man Who'd Sell You Out. Knock Hi=
> m
>> > Down with the Club of Ballot Box Retribution.
>> >
>> > The last phrase is really catchy, once you say it enough.  Listen for i=
> t
>> in
>> > November!
>> >
>> > JL
>> > --
>> > "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
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> -Wilson
>> =96=96=96
>> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"=96=96a strange complaint t=
> o
>> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>> =96Mark Twain
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
> --=20
> "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
>



--
-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

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