"... sore eyed negroes ..."

[Paul Frank]

Almost any page, chosen at random, of this book is mind-boggling. Take page 206:

<http://tinyurl.com/3yzpsab>

Paul

Paul Frank
Translator
German, French, Chinese > English
Huémoz - Aigle - Neuchâtel, CH
paulfrank at post.harvard.edu




On 3 May 2010 17:10, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Â  Â  Â  Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Â  Â  Â Re: "... sore eyed negroes ..."
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Sounds more serious than that:
>
> http://bit.ly/a3O4GG
>
> Sore Eyes.
> Negroes are frequently troubled with sore eyes, and sometimes very
> obstinate ones. If they do net threaten life, the/ sometimes deprive
> them of the use of a precious organ, which, as a man has only two of
> them, he would willingly preserve, considering its great utility, and
> that a very possible chance might deprive him of the other, and so
> consign him to darkness for the remainder of his life.
> When a negro is attacked with sore eyes, if the inflammation be slight,
> it will be proper to put him in a room, where there is neither fire nor
> smoke, and but little light. Let his eyes be covered with a piece of
> linen rag, bound round the forehead, btrt so as not to press tightly
> upon it, and bathe the eyes frequently with warm water.
> If the inflammation be very considerable, draw half a pint of blood from
> the arm, and give one of the following purges...
>
> DanG
>
> On 5/3/2010 10:20 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
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>> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society<ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster: Â  Â  Â  "Joel S. Berson"<Berson at ATT.NET>
>> Subject: Â  Â  Â Re: "... sore eyed negroes ..."
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Surely reddened and achy, as one might expect of
>> tired eyes? Â In George Thompson's context, they're perhaps from drinking:
>>
>> "a real spirit head soaker, six pence, with rot
>> gut bitters in the morning, and sore eyed negroes at different prices."
>>
>> The OED says, s.v "sore, a1",
>> "sore-eyed a., having sore eyes; also applied to
>> sheath-billed pigeons, which have reddish caruncles round the eyes."
>>
>> And do I remember a stereotype that "Negroes" have red eyes?
>>
>> Joel
>>
>> At 5/3/2010 01:34 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>>
>>> = "coloreds with conjunctivitis"?
>>>
>>> WTF *are* "sore eyes," anyway? Till a couple of minutes ago, when I
>>> tried to google "sore eyes," I had been under the impression that
>>> "sight for sore eyes" meant "sight that causes pain in one's eyes,"
>>> used ironically or jokingly as a reverse compliment. Now, I've
>>> discovered that it means, "sight so pleasant that even *sore* eyes
>>> enjoy seeing it."
>>>
>>> But that still leaves unanswered the question, WTF are "sore eyes"?
>>> Is there a literal meaning? I experience pain inside *only* my right
>>> eyeball as the "shadow" of, or prelude to, a cluster headache.
>>> Conjunctivitis makes my eyes very itchy, but not sore.
>>>
>>> -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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>>>
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