Possible "slung" = "hanging loosely"? 1749; not in OED2

[Joel S. Berson]

At 4/16/2014 12:13 PM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:

>Isn't a definition of "sling" to hang loosely? Perhaps her arms were
>hanging loosely, as if by her side.

I think that's a possible interpretation.  Although not exactly in
the OED?  The closests I find in the OED Online have to do with the
action of suspending something, rather than letting something
hang.  But perhaps I've missed something.

slung, adj.2.  "Placed in, hung or suspended by, a sling or slings."
sling, v.2, 3.  "To hang or suspend, to fix or fasten (something)
about the person in a sling or in a loose manner so as to be carried easily."
sling, v.2, 4.a: "To hang up or suspend, esp. from one point to
another; to put up (a hammock)."

The alternative, "she threw away her weapons ("Arms"), seems possible
also.  (I would rule out "flung", since the ligature still looks to
me like "sl" rather than "fl".)

Joel


>DanG
>
>
>On Wed, Apr 16, 2014 at 10:18 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > Subject:      Re: slang or flang in 1749?
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Not an OCR error -- EAN has page images.  Nor "slung down her
> > Trumpet"; it's her Arms that were "slang".
> >
> > However, my error.  I did not notice the possible rhyme with the next
> > line's "carelessly hung".  And now the letter I thought was an "a"
> > looks like a "u".
> >
> > So -- the "Arms" probably refer not to what's missing in the Venus de
> > Milo, but to weapons, which Bellona has temporarily "slung" down at
> > the end of the War of the Austrian Succession.
> >
> > Joel
> >
> > At 4/16/2014 09:49 AM, Randy Alexander wrote:
> >
> > >OCR error or typo (or odd variant) for "slung" down her trumpet, it looks
> > >like to me.
> > >On Apr 16, 2014 9:43 AM, "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> > >
> > > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > > -----------------------
> > > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > > > Subject:      slang or flang in 1749?
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > >
> > > > Can someone tell me what the "slang" or "flang" in the following is?
> > > >
> > > > On the Report of a British Fleet being to be sent to the Baltick.
> > > > When War subsided in the South,
> > > > Bellona seem'd to close her Mouth,
> > > > Her Cheeks were smooth, her Arms were slang, [correct to "slung"]
> > > > and down her Trumpet careless hung;
> > > > She look'd so tranquil on the Nations,
> > > > They all appear'd like near Relations.
> > > >
> > > > ["slang" appears to begin with the ligature "sl" (no crossing bar on
> > > > the long s), but it might instead be a typesetter's error for "fl".]
> > > >
> > > > Boston News-Letter, 1749 June 8, page 1, col. 2.  Headline: "From the
> > > > London Magazine for the Month of March 1749".  EAN.
> > > >
> > > > Joel
> > > >
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