"The stroll"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Joel is right. HDAS has "stroll," n. (in print) only from the '50s or '60s.

Earlier nominal usage (and not very frequent in print) was the more or less
standard "beat," though the 1796 ex. is an unusually valuable early one for
the idiomatic phrase, _on the stroll,_ 'seeking customers as a
streetwalker.'

JL


On Wed, Dec 25, 2013 at 8:14 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "The stroll"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Mr. Doe (and I'm grateful that you're not signing
> your messages "John"), if I understand the
> original question correctly, Donald McCaig is
> asking about "the stroll" meaning a place.  Your
> find, while very useful, I think has the sense of an action.
>
> A facetious comment -- perhaps "the stroll"
> undertook the sense of a place when "the Mall"
> became common usage?  (The OED tells me in the 1660s or 1670s.)
>
> Joel
>
> At 12/25/2013 08:31 PM, John Doe wrote:
>
> >It's been in use for centuries. And a prostitute doesn't simply stand
> >there. She literally strolls up and down, so as to show off the goods,
> >displaying herself to potential clients who want to "dig that action,"
> i.e,
> >see the movement of her lower body as she walks.
> >
> >An Apology for the Bible: In a Series of Letters, Addressed ... - Pages
> >99-100
> >books.google.com/books?id=-NoMAAAAIAAJ
> >Richard Watson - 1796 - Read - More editions
> >"... Mary Magdelene ; she was a woman of a large acquaintance, and it was
> >not an ill conjecture that she might be upon _the stroll_."...
> >
> >The quotes are in the original. The author is citing his correspondent.
> >
> >-Wilson
> >
> >
> >On Wed, Dec 25, 2013 at 5:33 AM, Donald McCaig <mccaig at mgwnet.com> wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Donald McCaig <mccaig at MGWNET.COM>
> > > Subject:      "The stroll"
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > Does anyone know when this became common parlance for a prostitute's
> > > working corner?
> > >
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> >
> >
> >--
> >-Wilson
> >-----
> >All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
> >come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> >-Mark Twain
> >
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