Limerick poem dates

[Michael Quinion]

Stephen Goranson wrote:

> Though I am away from my notes on Limerick, according to the article:
>
> 1) That "the first recorded example" of "come to Limerick" as "a challenge
> to somebody to come to the point, make himself clear, face the music or
> submit" is from 1862. But that is not true.
>
> 2) That "The first known appearance of _limerick_ for them [these nonsense
> poems] is in a letter of 1896 by the artist and illustrator Aubrey
> Beardsley." But that is not true.
>
> 3) That "the earliest North American example of _limerick_ so far known
> dates from 1898, two years after it appeared in the UK." But that is not
> true.

If you would care to supply corrections, I will happily incorporate them
into the article.

--
Michael Quinion
Editor, World Wide Words
Web: http://www.worldwidewords.org

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