"blowing" = "blowen" (and the OED)

Thu Oct 9 22:52:45 UTC 2014

The error, which I immediately credited in my mental fog, lay in saying
that HDAS has no entry for "blowen."

I did, however, recall correctly that it appears in Matsell, which means
nothing by itself.

Then I found a way to rationalize the witch's brew of fact and error.

"Blowing" shows up only as a variant of "blowen." I checked.

JL

On Thu, Oct 9, 2014 at 9:56 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "blowing" = "blowen" (and the OED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 10/8/2014 02:45 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
> >Ignore the above.
> >
> >I was unduly influenced by Joel's authoritative comment about "blowen"
> (and
> >missed Robin's reply) and didn't check for myself.
>
> Jon, I don't know whether you're using "authoritatively" satirically
> or as a compliment.  I don't object to either, but if I did make an
> error I'd appreciate knowing, since I'm at home and the HDAS is at Widener.
>
> Was I incorrect in saying that "blowing" is *not* in HDAS as a
> headword?  As I said, I didn't look for "blowen", and so don't know
> if "blowing" is an alternate there.
>
> Joel
>
>
> >The old gray recall ain't what he used to be.
> >
> >JL
> >
> >
> >On Wed, Oct 8, 2014 at 2:37 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> >wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject:      Re: "blowing" = "blowen" (and the OED)
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > I have no evidence (independent of Matsell's unreliable _Vocabulum_)
> that
> > > either _blowing_ or _blowen_ was ever current in the U.S.
> > >
> > > Hence no HDAS entries.
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > On Wed, Oct 8, 2014 at 10:42 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: "blowing" = "blowen" (and the OED)
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > >
> > > > Thanks, Robin.  I did have HDAS if not on my bookshelf at least open
> > > > upon my desk ... well, upon Widener Library's Reference Room's
> > > > desk... as I was investigating its spurious 1824 quotation for
> > > > "fancy-girl".  But it has no entry for "blowing" -- nor any relevant
> > > > sense under the verb "blow" -- and I would not have thought to look
> > > > for "blowe...".  Nor did I find "blowing" in the OED, since I was
> > > > intimidated by its 949 quotations containing that word; even starting
> > > > at "blow..." only removed 55.
> > > >
> > > > The OED2 subsumes "blowing" under "blowen" ("Forms:  Also blowing"),
> > > > and I assume therefore its entry should include quotations with
> > > > either spelling.  Its earliest citation is 1818 (for "blowen", from
> > > > Vaux).  The 130-year antedating in Thomas Shadwell's _The Squire of
> > > > Alsatia_ should be added (if confirmed; a 1688 edition is in EEBO).
> > > >
> > > > Joel
> > > >
> > > > At 10/8/2014 02:39 AM, Robin Hamilton wrote:
> > > > >...
> > > > >1821 J. Burrowes _Life in St. George's Fields ..._  p. [25].
> > > > >
> > > > >"Blowing, a fancy girl".  (This is within what Burrowes presents as
> > > > >"A Slang Dictionary" to interpret his character's speech.)
> > > > >
> > > > >Imprint London: 1821.  GBooks, full view.  [I have not tried to
> trace
> > > > >"blowing" as a British "slang" term.]
> > > > >   ...
> > > > >Joel
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >-----------------------------------------------------------------
> > ---------------
> > > > >
> > > > >"Blowing" is the earlier form of the more familiar "blowen",
> > > > >earliest citation I think 1688 in Thomas Shadwell's _The Squire of
> > > > >Alsatia_. Although the "blowing" form is found as late as Byron's
> > > > >_Don Juan_ (1811), it has been more-or-less replaced by "blowen" by
> > > > >the end of the eighteenth century.  As can be seen by tracing the
> > > > >shift between the two terms in the course of the evolution of the
> > > > >five editions of Grose's _Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue_ between
> > > > >1785 and 1823.
> > > > >
> > > > >Not just English but American too.  There's a succinct entry in
> > > > >HDAS, which everyone has on their bookshelves (or ought to have).
> > > > >
> > > > >Robin
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