shellacking

[Jonathan Lighter]

The low-score shutout is interesting. Perhaps the original sense (quickly
forgotten) was closer to "whitewash," which AFAIK is always limited to
shutouts.

JL

On Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 11:10 AM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: shellacking
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Excellent article, Ben. Here is an example of "shellac" in the domain
> of baseball in 1923. Interestingly, the score is only 2-0, a shutout.
> During a quick scan of the difficult to read text I was only able to
> locate "shellac" in the headline.
>
> Cite: 1923 Jun 25, The Hartford Courant, "LUQUE'S STREAK ENDS WHEN
> CUBS SHELLAC REDS, 2 TO 0", Page 12, Hartford, Conn. (ProQuest)
>
>
> Here is an example in May 1924 where the score is 11-0. That is an
> old-fashioned shellacking (perhaps new-fashioned in 1924).
>
> Cite: 1924 May 26, The Hartford Courant, "GIANTS BEAT REDS IN NINTH;
> CUBS SHELLAC BOSTON BRAVES", Page 15, Hartford, Conn. (ProQuest)
>
> Garson
>
> On Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 10:33 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> > Subject:      Re: shellacking
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > At 12:07 PM +0000 11/5/10, Charles C Doyle wrote:
> >>Obama's use of the gerund "shellacking" sounded so ordinary to me
> >>that I was surprised at all the attention the word is receiving!  I
> >>have known and used it (in that sense) all my life.
> >>
> >>Might it be limited (or have become limited since the 1920s), to
> >>Southern and African American dialects?
> >>
> >
> > No.  At least not for those non-African American non-Southerners who
> > follow any sports at all.
> >
> > Oops, I see further down in my mailer that Jon and Ron already
> > covered this ground.  What they said.
> >
> > LH
> >
> >>________________________________________
> >>From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of
> >>Ben Zimmer [bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU]
> >>Sent: Friday, November 05, 2010 12:59 AM
> >>
> >>Obama's reference to the Democrats' electoral "shellacking" is the
> >>inspiration for my latest Word Routes column:
> >>
> >>http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2479/
> >>
> >>I've found the "beating" sense going back to 1924, in boxing circles.
> >>Antedatings welcome, as always.
> >>
> >>--bgz
> >>
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