"do a crap"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Even better, the 1846 ex. of "crappy" synonymizes it with "sh-ten."


JL


On Thu, Jun 5, 2014 at 4:22 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "do a crap"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> FWIW, here's some independent evidence for the noun's existence with this
> sense prior to 1898, from Farmer & Henley, since I have it out anyway.
>  Their entry, in Volume II (C-Fizzle), has a publication date of 1891 (if I
> have my Roman numerals correct) and includes three senses for "crap" as a
> substantive, the third of which reads
>
> 3. (printers')--Type that has got mixes; technically known as 'pi.' [Here
> compared to excrement.]
>
> Curiously, there's no entry for substantive "crap" = 'excrement', although
> the verb entry 'to ease oneself by evacuation' is listed as "common" (OED
> has the verb from 1874), with a cross-reference to the entries at "Bury a
> Quaker" and "Mrs. Jones".
>
> LH
>
> On Jun 5, 2014, at 3:56 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
> > OED/HDAS have _crap_ 'a defecation,' from Wright's EDD of 1898, though
> > Wright seems to give no actual citation.
> >
> > So this early ex. might be useful:
> >
> > 1910 _Proceedings of the Old Bailey_ [
> >
> http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t19100208-41a&div=t19100208-41a&terms=crap#highlight
> ]:
> > All right, governor, I only came over here to do a crap. ...I simply got
> > over the gateway for a natural purpose. I am innocent.
> >
> > Note that British usage has customarily been to "do" a crap; American is
> > "take" or "have" one.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
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