[Ads-l] "off the cuff" antedated to 1934

[Joel S. Berson]

At 2/21/2015 03:55 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:

>On Sat, Feb 21, 2015 at 11:58 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu>
>wrote:
>
> > I picked one _off the cuff_and gave it to him for free."
> >
>
>Could this mean, "at random"? That's close enough to the required meaning
>for government work.

The last part of Stephen's quotation and citation may be important:
>[The same paper has an iffy Sept. 1, 1929 use: 
>"
.I picked one off the cuff and gave it to him for free."­horse racing tip.]

The name of the horse was written on the tout's 
shirt cuff?  Like a schoolboy recording important 
information before a test.  And holding his choices close to his vest.

Joel 

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