"biting money"

[Alice Faber]

On 12/1/11 9:35 AM, Michael Sheehan wrote:
> Having exhausted the meager resources available to me, I turn to this
> august body. I am told that "biting money" is an Upper Peninsula term,
> and that it was often used by U.P. author Cully Gage. Can anyone
> define the term?

Is the reference to coin or paper money?

If coin, might it be in reference to the practice of biting supposed
gold coins to see if they were really soft enough to actually be gold?


--
 =============================================================================
Alice Faber                                    faber at haskins.yale.edu
Haskins Laboratories                           tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
New Haven, CT 06511 USA                        fax (203) 865-8963

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