antedating tit (and other things) (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Jonathan Lighter]

I meant "teats of a sow."

If I remember, I'll see if I can find the quote next time I'm in the UT
Library.

Odd, isn't it, that exx. are so nearly nonexistent. I can't say I've ever
seen "teats" used for human mammary glands (or nipples) before the 20th C.
either.  If so, the exx. must be comparably rare.

Jon

On Tue, Nov 6, 2012 at 5:56 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <
Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject:      Re: antedating tit (and other things) (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> >
> > Bill, I see a note of mine that says a single ex. of "tits" appears
> > ca1840 among the reprinted _Bawdy Songsters of the Romantic Era_ (4
> > vols., 2012).
> >
> > They went back to the library in July, but I may still be able to find
> > the precise quot.  Shall I look? (Naturally I was too lazy and
> > disgruntled to write it down, never thinking I'd need to allude to
> it.)
> >
>
> No need on my account.  I was looking (as I said offline) for the phrase
> "tits up", because it anachronistically appears in Dennis Lehane's novel
> "Live by Night", set in the 1920s.  And all of the cites I posted were
> found when hunting for "tits up".
>
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
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