Broshering

[Douglas G. Wilson]

On 3/28/2011 3:22 PM, Michael Quinion wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society<ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Michael Quinion<wordseditor at WORLDWIDEWORDS.ORG>
> Organization: World Wide Words
> Subject:      Broshering
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Can anybody help with the word "broshering"? It turned up in one of the
> late Ivor Brown's books on language. I can find it in only one other
> place, Reminiscences of Eton by the Reverend Charles Allix Wilkinson of
> 1888, "'Appius', so-called, had been the head of a conspiracy for
> 'broshering' their dame, that was, eating her out of house and home -
> eating and drinking everything that was on the table, and what was sent up
> afterwards, and still always asking for more."
--

This seems to be the same as "brosier" (noun and verb) = "bankrupt",
shown in EDD and in Farmer & Henley, also mentioned here and there in
N&Q back in the day.

-- Doug Wilson

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