blowzy

[Dave Wilton]

I'm familiar with the word from Kipling's "Gentlemen-Rankers," about
officers who have been promoted up from the ranks, which includes the
passage:

    "Oh, it's sweet to sweat through stables, sweet to empty kitchen slops,
        And it's sweet to hear the tales the troopers tell,
    To dance with blowzy housemaids at the regimental hops
        And thrash the cad who says you waltz too well."

This would be either OED definition 1 or 2. I doubt this is what the
commentator meant, but it's amusing to think it might be.



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2013 9:14 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: blowzy

A bald-pated academic with rimless glasses and a measured, Ivy League manner
tells Candy Crowley that he hopes Obama's Inaugural speech "won't be blowzy,
out there, and timeless."

I know it's early, but what the hell is he talking about?

JL

--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org