“cat for to make kitten britches”

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Tue, Jun 12, 2012 at 08:57:55PM -0400, Garson O'Toole wrote:
> I should have wrote "The Mavens' Word of the Day" (not Maven's). The
> webpage suggests that the expression dates to the "nineteenth
> century":
>
> http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19960823

Just FYI, I wrote the entries in what subsequently came to be called
"The Mavens' Word of the Day" up to August 1999 or so (it was called
"Jesse's Word of the Day" until then).

I have no idea right now where I got the dating info--is it in DARE? I'm
out of the country and can't easily check.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

> [Begin excerpt]
> Although hard evidence is lacking, the expression cat's fur to make
> kitten britches seems to date back to the nineteenth century. It isn't
> specifically associated with any region of the country.
> [End excerpt]
>
> In a quick search I found a citation on the edge of the century. Typos
> are likely in this dialect-heavy excerpt:
>
> Cite: 1900 September 23, Rockford Morning Star [Morning Star],
> "Crankisms": Some Thoughts on Equal Suffrage by J.K.B., Page 2,
> Rockford, Illinois. (GenealogyBank)
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> "Lookee here, Jing," said Ole Pete, helping himself to a sheepnose
> apple from an open barrel, and gumming it while he talked: "I'm a
> thinkin' on movin' to ,Jarsey; wanter buy that kaliker hoss o' mine?"
>
> "Wat fur?"
>
> "W'y cat fur, ter make kitten britches. Wa't dy'e spose?" Shying his
> apple core at the grocery cat who was licking the kerosene can.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Tue, Jun 12, 2012 at 8:13 PM, Garson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      =?windows-1252?Q?Re=3A_=93cat_for_to_make_kitten_britches=94?=
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Michael Sheehan said:
> >> Any idea where “cat for to make kitten britches” came from and how to
> >> parse it?
> >
> > The Maven's Word of the Day examined a version of this phrase in 1996:
> >
> > cat's fur to make kitten britches
> > http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19960823
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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