[Ads-l] go for a "Burton"--a 1944 etymology guess (UNCLASSIFIED)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

In May 1945 the magazine "Flying" printed a "Letter from London" that
discussed a book about slang called "Dictionary of RAF Slang" by Eric
Partridge.

The article asserted that Partridge's book included the phrase "gone
for a Burton" meaning dead.  Further, "Burton" was "a kind of beer".

Date: May 1945
Periodical: Flying Magazine
Article: London Letter
Author: Maj. Oliver Stewart (British Authority, Editor of Aeronautics)
Start Page 56, Quote Page 140
Publisher: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois
Database: Google Books Full View

Double check for typos.

Short link:   http://bit.ly/1LbiDb4

https://books.google.com/books?id=lJ5XVVDB3SMC&q=Burton#v=snippet&

[Begin excerpt]
Eric Partridge's "Dictionary of RAF
Slang" (Michael Joseph) is the first work
on this subject by a specialist. Mr. Part-
tridge, author of "Slang--A Study and a
History," "Words, Words, Words" and as-
sistant editor of the "American Tramp
and Underworld Slang," is serving in the
RAF.
[End excerpt]

[Begin excerpt]
Here will be found the meaning and
derivation of "bind" (to bore), "gone for
a Burton" (dead--a Burton being a kind
of beer), "the beer lever" (the control
column), "a body snatcher" (stretcher
bearer), "a piece of home work" or "a
piece of knitting" (a girl friend), and a
"fruit salad" (many medal ribbons).
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Fri, Aug 14, 2015 at 8:30 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: go for a "Burton"--a 1944 etymology guess (UNCLASSIFIED)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> A source in GB asserts that the alleged ad did not exist.
>
> JL
>
> On Fri, Aug 14, 2015 at 4:50 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: go for a "Burton"--a 1944 etymology guess (UNCLASSIFIED)
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> On Fri, Aug 14, 2015 at 12:45 PM, Mullins, Bill CIV (US) ADSGarson O'Toole
>> <
>> adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>
>> > roundly rated them
>>
>>
>> For their usances and their Jewish gabardine?
>>
>>
>> --
>> -Wilson
>> -----
>> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
>> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>> -Mark Twain
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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