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

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

It looks like Time magazine published the Burton beer explanation for
the phrase in 1943. I will try to access the full article and share an
excerpt.
Garson

On Fri, Aug 14, 2015 at 9:21 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: go for a "Burton"--a 1944 etymology guess (UNCLASSIFIED)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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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>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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