"going it like cripples"

George Thompson george.thompson at NYU.EDU
Tue Oct 4 01:48:20 UTC 2011


A wagon was broken in Chatham square yesterday -- the axletree giving way.
 The wagon was fully freighted with some half dozen jolly young gallants who
were "going it like cripples" at the time.
New York Herald, January 11, 1847, p. 2, col. 3

Full text.  No doubt the gallants were drunk; probably speeding, too (i. e.,
driving more than 8 mph).  Still. . . .

GAT

--
George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ.
Pr., 1998, but nothing much since then.

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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