"... sore eyed negroes ..."

[Joel S. Berson]

We must remember that this book was published in
1803, and is about slavery in the sugar colonies.

Also, it is what some believed, no matter how
mind-boggling, and is therefore a plausible source for the expression.

Joel

At 5/3/2010 12:42 PM, Paul Frank wrote:
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>
>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:
> > ---------------------- Information from the
> mail header -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      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:
> >> ---------------------- Information from the
> mail header -----------------------
> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society<ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson"<Berson at ATT.NET>
> >> Subject:      Re: "... sore eyed negroes ..."
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> Surely reddened and achy, as one might expect of
> >> tired eyes?  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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