"cheek music"

[Laurence Horn]

On Aug 22, 2011, at 8:27 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> Nope, not in OED. "Chin music" not attested till 1834.
>
> JL

And all of them for a sense with which I'm unfamiliar ("talk, chatter", chiefly U.S.).  No record of the only sense I do know, as a term of baseball art = 'beanball' (thrown under the chin of the batter, give or take).  Is the original sense still extant?

LH
>
> On Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 7:06 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> 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: "cheek music"
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Not in the OED?
>>
>> As often with 18th century dates, I look in EAI.  I will need some
>> time to analyze an 1802 article, but here's an example from 1807
>> where the meaning appears to be "gossip":
>>
>> Spirit of the Press [Philadelphia]; Date: 11-01-1807; Volume: I;
>> Issue: 30; Page: [3]; 2nd col. of article, near the end:
>>
>> "The officers sometimes invite you to the ward-room, and you have a
>> good deal of cheek music together. I wish you would let me know
>> what's stirring among them as soon as you can."
>>
>> Letter Introduced as "Union at sea, November 7, 1807"  To Richard
>> Folwell, boatswains's mate, Ship Union; signed Henry Hawser.  [A bit
>> inconsistent?  Were they both aboard the Union?]  The letter starts:
>>
>> "Holloa, Dick, what cheer fore and aft?  Does the weather look squally?"
>>
>> Perhaps the letter was sent from one part of the ship to another?  Or
>> perhaps it is invented.
>>
>> Joel
>>
>> At 8/21/2011 08:32 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>> Means "whistling," but cf. later "chin music," yakking.
>>>
>>> 1787 _The Adventures of Jonathan Corncob_ (London: ptd. for the author)
>> 190:
>>> Does it not blow hard enough without your giving us your d----d cheek
>> music,
>>> to bring on a squall, and be d----d to you."
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
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