pudding

[Wilson Gray]

FWIW, all of those meanings, including the literal one, are news to me.

Though I am familiar with the expression - IME, only literary - "pull
the pud(ding)."
--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"--a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain


On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 2:59 AM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Â  Â  Â  Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Â  Â  Â pudding
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> OED has a very long article for Pudding. But neither OED nor other
> sources appear to mention "finger(s) in the pudding" in any of its
> metaphorical connotations including, 1) getting caught with a hand in a
> cookie jar (or getting caught red-handed), 2) finger in a pie (taking
> part in a venture or taking a bribe or getting a cut, e.g., for
> protection), 3) "too many fingers in a pudding" in the same meaning as
> "too many cooks in the kitchen", 4) sexual connotations (i.e., touching
> the vagina--occasionally as "hand in the pudding). There is a lot of
> evidence for the first two, going back into the mid-1800s; only a
> handful of printed evidence for the last two, although (4) is becoming
> an increasingly common vulgar expression.
>
> Â  Â  VS-)
>
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