_ash pit_

[victor steinbok]

I'm going by the definitions in the sources. Ass-hole and ass-pit are
defined to be holes in the ground where the fireplace and other domestic
ashes are carried to to dispose of them. This is specifically contrasted
with dump heaps in some areas, where no hole is dug in the ground for such
disposal. I have no idea what an "ash pit" was in St. Louis when you were
growing up. For all I know, it was a giant dump heap. This does not change
the meaning of what I wrote. In fact, some of the aforementioned glossaries
list ass-hole, ass-pit and ass-midden all together with a single definition
(that includes both dump heap and ash pit)

VS-)

On Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 5:21 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> On Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 5:04 PM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > an _ash pit_ outside
>
> Victor, do you know what an "ash pit" is? Ash pits were typical of the
> Saint Louis cityscape, when I lived there. But, since leaving there,
> I've found no one not also from StL who had any idea what an "ash pit"
> is. Because, in StL, anyway, an ash _pit_ is not, by any stretch of
> the imagination, an actual pit, I've never been able to be certain
> that my attempts to tell people what an "ash pit" is have succeeded.
>
> --
> -Wilson

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