1947 citing in Archie Comic of "butthole." What did it mean?

[Ben Zimmer]

On Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 9:51 PM, Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:
>
> Sam Clements said:
> >
> > Google News hit, posted over at Straight Dope by an alert reader.
> >
> >
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=plAsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=E8sEAAAAIBAJ&dq=calendar-girl&pg=4081%2C91102
> >
> > Betty says to Archie  "Being an usher after school must be prime."
> >
> > Archie replies  "Oh, it gets kinda butthole at times."
> >
> > How would this get by a censor if it had a modern meaning?  What did it
> > mean in the context of the times? Not in the OED as such that I could find.
>
> I suspect vandalism.  Has it been checked against the same comic in
> a different newspaper?

It checks out -- Newspaperarchive has the same strip in the Elyria (OH)
Chronicle-Telegram, Apr. 2, 1947.

Further discussion on BoingBoing:

http://boingboing.net/2012/04/22/do-you-kiss-betty-andor-veron.html


--bgz

--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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