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

[Victor Steinbok]

You must have a different version of GB from mine, Jon. When searching
for {butthole or "butt-hole"} I got the 1904 volume, although it's seems
to be not for telegraph operators but for "brokers who want to
communicate by telegraph". That's a considerably smaller set of people,
although substantially the same purpose.

But, more to the point, you also get 1898, 1906 and 1912 hits from
Country Life and Living Age that refer to a "butt-hole" in connection
with badger hunt--i.e., the same references that have been identified at
Boing-boing.

There is at least one other example with "butt hole" (two words), in
reference to mining, that has something to do with blowing things up.
The end of the sentence, however, refers to a "bore hole". I suppose, it
could be the same thing--the bore hole being the one that is drilled
into a rock to a set depth, then loaded with dynamite or other explosives.

> The other fatal accident was occasioned by the premature explosion of
> a blast in a drive in the Great Fitzroy Gold and Copper Mine, and is
> attributable to the recharging of a "butt-hole" soon after the first
> explosion, before the rock had time to cool, and neglect of the common
> precaution of pouring water into the bore-hole.

In this sense, it would also be a "cul de sac" of sorts. So all
three--tree-hole, mining bore-hole and the badger lair--have very
similar meaning, with the last two (five, actually) in close temporal
proximity.

     VS-)



On 4/24/2012 8:36 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> ...
> Here's a surprise, from 1904:
> http://books.google.com/books?id=O6IrAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA14&dq=butthole&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EkOXT_HoFpKbtwfkzPXXAQ&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=butthole&f=false
>
> The word is being used by telegraph operators as a quickie code for a
> mining company.  Go figure, especially since the far more "defensible"
> "bunghole" doesn't make the list. Other than the OED ex., it's the only ex.
> of "butthole" in any sense that GB produces before 1950.
>
> In fact, GB shows virtually no other plausible ex. of "butthole" (except in
> a rural English place name), before 1962. The single exception is from the
> journal _Veneers and Plywood_ (apparently 1952), which refers casually to a
> hole in a tree trunk as a "butt hole."
>
> Does the arboreal "butt hole" or something similar appear in the 1934 W2?
> Conceivably Montana heard the word as he uses it, then checked to see if
> there was an innocent meaning, then went ahead and printed it.  But, as I
> inquired before, why risk trouble?

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