crowbar Hilton

[Jonathan Lighter]

Great find, Garson!  It looks like a vast antedating.  (NewspArch has exx.
from 1885 and 1888.)

"Crossbar Hotel" is a variant (1865: HDAS).  From NewspArch:

1880 _Derrick_ [Oil City, Pa.] (Sept. 21) 3: The man was taken to the
crossbar hotel to keep him from disturbing the town a third time.

"Crowbar Hilton" is unfamiliar to me.

JL


On Thu, May 16, 2013 at 12:21 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: crowbar Hilton
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> HDAS has "crowbar hotel" on page 529 with a first cite dated 1941.
>
> GenealogyBank seems to have a citation for "crowbar hotel" with the
> relevant sense in 1875
>
> Twice Sentenced To Death. Unusual Scene in Court at Williamsport, Pa.
> Date: Wednesday, June 30, 1875
> Paper: Washington Reporter (Washington, PA)
> Page: 2
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Your honor they forced
> me to trial when my counsel was not
> ready, and kept me in the crowbar
> hotel so that I could not work up my
> case.
> [End excerpt]
>
> On Thu, May 16, 2013 at 11:39 AM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      crowbar Hilton
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Found this curious metaphor today. Haven't really heard it before,
> > although I don't have the HDAS on hand and JL might have already caught
> > it eons ago.
> >
> > http://goo.gl/aJCJf
> >> Disclosing taxpayer information is a very serious offense for an IRS
> >> agent.
> >> "That's like the one-way ticket to the crowbar Hilton in the IRS,"
> >> Hackney said.
> >
> > A quick search reveals more than a handful of similar references.
> >
> > http://goo.gl/YpdEr
> >> 18. Somebody needs a time out in the Crowbar Hilton.
> >
> > http://goo.gl/IgCeE
> >> 1. Say hello to the Crowbar Hilton young Mister Wade.
> > [Same poster on both of those comments.]
> >
> > http://goo.gl/G1wmo
> >> Crowbar Hilton....NOT even a good place to visit.
> > [Some interesting spelling here. "Weather" for "whether" is common, but
> > spells "paranoia" as "parnioa" twice.]
> >
> > http://goo.gl/K9rcZ
> >> Celebutante Checks Out of Crowbar Hilton
> > [Also being sold through Amazon and other sources. There is an added
> > irony--the "celebutant" is Paris Hilton.]
> >
> > http://goo.gl/hWMzw
> >> In Michigan that kind of language in public can net you a tall fine or
> >> a short stay in the crowbar Hilton...
> >
> > http://goo.gl/CH3HZ
> >> o.j. simpson going to crowbar hilton
> >
> >      VS-)
> >
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> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



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