"Dead man's float" (and not in OED)

[Herb Stahlke]

My earliest memory of the phrase is from Fall 1955 when I too was taking my
first swimming lessons at Concordia College, Milwaukee.  I may have heard
it earlier because I had brothers attending there steadily from 1945 on,
but I don't remember that.


Herb


On Sun, Jun 1, 2014 at 7:32 PM, Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at stanford.edu> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at STANFORD.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "Dead man's float" (and not in OED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Jun 1, 2014, at 4:15 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> wrote:
>
> >
> > I heard it in 1961.
>
> i recall hearing it first in the late 1940s, when i wzs learning to swim
> at the Y.   but i don't think anyone's recollections (even mine) as to
> dating should be trusted.
>
> arnold
>
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