Q: "gold dust" used figuratively?

[Eric Nielsen]

Not early, but timeless:

"Rock on, gold dust woman
Take your silver spoon
And dig your grave...."

Stevie Nicks
Fleetwood Mac

"It's about groupie-type ladies. About women who stand around and give me
and Christine dirty looks but as soon as a guy comes in the room are
overcome with smiles."
~Stevie Nicks, Crawdaddy, November, 1976

Eric



On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 1:16 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Q:  "gold dust" used figuratively?
>
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>
> Since I've been challenged, how about, from the 18th century:
>
> Some of the High Germans seem now to have rubb'd the French Gold-Dust
> out of their Eyes, & begin to see that the French are but lukewarm in
> the Emperor's Interest in the pretended mediation with the Ottoman Port.
>
> This appeared only 1/3 of a century after the OED's earliest citation
> for the literal meaning.
>
> Joel
>
> At 3/26/2010 12:32 PM, Bill Palmer wrote:
> >IMHO, sounds more like that sort of thing  would be termed "fool's gold"
> >rather than "gold dust".
> >
> >Bill Palmer
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> >To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 11:34 AM
> >Subject: Q: "gold dust" used figuratively?
> >
> >
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> >>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >>Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> >>Subject:      Q:  "gold dust" used figuratively?
>
> >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >>Where is the place (and what are early dates) for "gold dust" used
> >>figuratively, for example as something seductive but false?  It's not
> >>in the OED, nor in the few dictionaries of American slang I have.
> >>
> >>Joel
> >>
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