"bone in her teeth"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Antedates 1835 in HDAS.

But "bone in her mouth" goes back to the 1600s. (Ibid.)

JL

On Sat, May 28, 2011 at 11:24 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      "bone in her teeth"
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> Not in OED, although perhaps this metaphoric use does not merit
> inclusion.  Google Books has the phrase back to 1824, and about 2300
> more times, including the ?2003 [Camden, ME: International
> Marine/McGraw-Hill, 2001] _Dictionary of Nautical Literacy_, by Robert
> McKenna.
>
> ... off sailed the boat, proudly dashing the foaming waters on either
> side of her bow, or in the more expressive language of her crew,
> "carrying a white bone in her teeth."
>
> Atlantic Magazine,  Vol. 1 (Sep.1824), p. 349.  In "Paunch Hogabout.
> A Moral Tale" [anon.]
>
> Joel
>
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