fool

[Jonathan Lighter]

HDAS knows all, tells all: "a person who is excessively dedicated to a
given activity. - usu. constr. with prec. ppl.

1913-15: "He's the fightin'est little fool 'at ever pulled on a glove."

1927: "Capt. Charles Lindbergh, the intrepid 'Flyin' Fool' from St. Louis."

Etc., etc.

There's a bracketed 1875 "A Fool for Luck," which may be relevant.
NewspArch reveals this from 1883: "The Hubbarb [sic] City News says
F.F.V. now means Fighting Fool Virginians."

JL

On Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 1:45 PM, 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: fool
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Isn't the Fool's Jig a long-standing part of the tradition of Morris
> dancing? I think the image of a dancing fool goes back to the 18th C
> at least.
>
> DanG
>
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 1:13 PM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       victor steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      fool
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> I have another reality show question. I've been thinking about the
>> expression "[to] be an X fool", where X could be many things, but is often
>> an -ing participle. I am not sure under which category of fools (in the
>> OED) it fits. The particular sentence that stuck in my mind is a few years
>> old--from Queer Eye for a Straight Guy first season.
>>
>> "Men are exfoliating fools."
>>
>> Any ideas? Or is it just a shade or two away from the main meaning?
>>
>> VS-)
>>
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