[Ads-l] "the trots (a British colloquialism for diarrhea)"

[David Barnhart]

Why can not the people resort to DARE? Nice entry there with lead to OED
(where the earliest quote is 1808).  According to DARE it's widespread, as
far as I can tell.  Dates in US from 1900, at least.

DKB

barnhart at highlands.com

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 5:56 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: "the trots (a British colloquialism for diarrhea)"

---------------------- Information from the mail header
-----------------------
Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: "the trots (a British colloquialism for diarrhea)"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---

My mother, born a century ago, used to say "runs."

Am pretty sure that the "trots" goes back at least to the American Civil War
but am too lazy to check the files.

JL

On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 4:11 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "the trots (a British colloquialism for diarrhea)"
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------
>
> I could imagine a whole spectrum, depending on the urgency and = 
> severity--from the trots to the canter to the gallop (and no, I wasn't 
> = thinking of color spectrum)--but the only ones I've heard are the 
> trots = and the runs, and I'm not sure the former suggests a milder 
> version than = the latter.  But perhaps "trots" is somewhat more British.
>
> LH
>
> > On Mar 17, 2015, at 3:27 PM, Christopher Philippo <toff at MAC.COM> =
> wrote:
> >=20
> > On Mar 17, 2015, at 3:18 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >> Isn=E2=80=99t "trots" used in the relevant meaning not only here, 
> >> but =
> also pretty much anywhere else that English is spoken?
> >=20
> > I think in upstate New York that I have occasionally heard it 
> >referred =
> to as the runs but never as the trots.  It seems plausible that it 
> might = be a British colloquialism - British understatement for that
matter?
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - =
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttp-3A__www.americandial
> ect.= 
> org&d=3DAwIFaQ&c=3D-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3DwFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW
> 1TsS= 
> xPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3D73S_NBhIMUh3Qxu0OtHHCrA-PrG73lETYaCyxypLQeg&s=3DdO
> yarM=
> SG0HGw7V-c0tQd5aUHP9H63_y15oi4s47atWg&e=3D=20
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org