Idiom: shake the dew off the lily (antedating 1951 probably)

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 04:56:36PM -0400, Garson O'Toole wrote:
> [Topic: "shake the dew off the lily" in Green's Dictionary of Slang]
>
> .Ben Zimmer wrote
> > GDoS cites Vincent J. Monteleone's _Criminal Slang_ (1949, revised
> > edition). I'm not finding it in the Google Books version of the 2003
> > reprint, however.
> >
> > http://books.google.com/books?id=nN81uyN8WmIC
>
> Thanks Ben for checking GDoS. I also cannot find the phrase in GB's
> copy of "Criminal Slang" under the entries containing lily, lilly,
> lilies, or dew.

Ah, but some of us have the original printing.

1949 V. J. Monteleone _Criminal Slang_ 204 SHAKE THE DEW OFF THE LILLY
(V) To urinate.

Ibid. 204 SHAKE THE LILLY (V) To urinate.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

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