_Fag_ = "a horse for easy riding" or some such?

[Dan Goncharoff]

Isn't "two bottles of port" a euphemism for excessive drinking? I recall
somebody having been said to die of "two bottles of port and a chair",
meaning gout derived from heavy drinking and associated inactivity.

DanG

On Sun, Feb 20, 2011 at 3:47 PM, Sarah <puellaest at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Poster:       Sarah <puellaest at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: _Fag_ = "a horse for easy riding" or some such?
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> On 2011-02-19, at 9:44 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
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> > Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: _Fag_ = "a horse for easy riding" or some such?
> >
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> >
> > On Sat, Feb 19, 2011 at 10:01 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> >
> >> Fag, n.1, sense 2.a.: Â "In English public
> >> schools, a junior who performs certain duties for a senior."
> >>
> >
> > Dern (Both Bruce and Laura)! I know that! Oh, well.
>
>
> Trying to pin it down to one sense seems to be in opposition with there
> rather clever, if excessive punning found throughout the epigram.
>
> That said, the desired "nag" is that which "[will] serve as a fag."
> Syntactically, the following "one" refers back to "nag" and not "fag"
> (likewise "ride very quiet applies to "fag" not "nag"). As such, there is no
> evidence in the poem to clarify the meaning of "fag." A "fag" is simply how
> Sir Toby wishes the nag to serve [him].
>
> My question is regarding "_two bottles of port_." I have a hard time
> reading this simply and only as "two containers that hold an alcoholic
> beverage," but I have no evidence for another sense. Is/Are there
> another/others (I'm thinking along the lines of that which would make the
> nag unable or unwilling to "carry a child" [again any and all senses]), or
> (esp. as "sort" more properly refers back to "child" and not "nag") is the
> emphasis there to end the punning and the poem?
>
> Another question, did anyone else think it odd just how many cricket terms
> are in there? (Or is that further evidence of a school-type setting?)
>
> Best,
> S.
>
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