s---k pot, 1805 (?)

[Mark Mandel]

I'd forgotten till you brought it up, but my maternal grandmother (b. NYC
ca. 1889) considered the word vulgar and reproached me for using it. These
grandmaternal delicacies suggest a possible older tradition.

m a m

On Mon, Sep 6, 2010 at 3:17 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

> Alan Hartley pointed out to me the following:
>
> >>might "s---k" have been "stink-pot"?
> >
> >I think so. At the verb "stink", the OED says "Now implying violent
> >disgust on the part of the speaker; in ordinary polite use avoided
> >as unpleasantly forcible." One of my grandmothers refused to use the word.
>
> I assume his grandmother was not as far back as 1805, but perhaps the
> editor of the newspaper had the same delicacy.  (Now if his
> grandmother had served aboard a British or American naval vessel, it
> would be a different story.)
>
> Joel
>

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