"roundabout"

Joel S. Berson Berson at ATT.NET
Sun May 19 15:30:24 UTC 2013


Is the following instance of "roundabout" n., sense A.1.b.,
"depreciative. A superfluous piece of circular clothing; spec. =
farthingale n. Obs. rare.", with a single OED quote from a1555?  Or
does it mean "tush" (a sense I don't see s.v. "roundabout")?

"The day was warm; the man's trousers adhered tightly to him just
under his roundabout; the temptation to give a slap was more than
James could resist. He swung his hand in the air and left the print
of his fingers on the man's posterior."

(I observe in passing that the OED describes "farthingale" as an item
of women's clothing, not men's.)

Joel

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