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

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Thanks, Bill. It is possible that the phrase "took the trots" is an
alternative expression for "had the trots". The page of the cowboy's
diary with "took the trots" is visible in Google Books Preview. The
date was October 5, 1868, but the additional context did not provide
clarity (to me).

Year: 2014
Title: A Texas Cowboy's Journal: Up the Trail to Kansas in 1868
Author: Jack Bailey
Quote Page 37
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Database: Google Books Preview
Diary Date: October 5, 1868

https://books.google.com/books?id=SxAFBAAAQBAJ&q=%22took+the+trots%22#v=snippet&

[Begin excerpt]
Well we are in the citty of Lawrence haveing lots of fun. I believe
Bud will laugh himself to death. Just as we got in town three or four
of the children took the trots. You ought to hear the old lady rare.
She wants to put on style. Well she does with a vengence. I + Bud are
going up in town to hunt Adare. Children have to get out on the
street.
[End excerpt]

Below is an excerpt from a 2010 book that included memories from
"rural Oklahoma in the late 1940s and early 1950s". This book employed
the phrase "took the trots" with the relevant sense. The book also
used the phrase "with the trots".

Year: 2010
Title: A Day in the Sun
Author: Norman W. McGuire
Quote Page 51

https://books.google.com/books?id=NdWdpR0HpYgC&q=trots#v=snippet&

[Begin excerpt]
Mr. Busshiehead said the reason for the two was that sometimes the
family took the trots and when you had them you didn't have time to
wait till the person was in the outhouse to get through, so he had
built a double holler and said if more then two came down with the
trots, they would have to hit the bushes.
[End excerpt]

On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 10:17 AM, Mullins, Bill CIV (US)
<william.d.mullins18.civ at mail.mil> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill CIV (US)" <william.d.mullins18.civ at MAIL.MIL>
> Subject:      Re: "the trots (a British colloquialism for diarrhea)"
>               (UNCLASSIFIED)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
>
>>=20
>> The Google Books database contains a book published in 2014 that claims
>> to be a diary of a cowboy in Kansas in 1868.The date of diary entry
>> containing the phrase "the trots" is not visible in the preview.
>> The date on the next diary entry was Wednesday, September 2, 1868.
>>=20
>> Year: 2014
>> Title: A Texas Cowboy's Journal: Up the Trail to Kansas in 1868
>> Author: Jack Bailey
>> Quote Page 37
>> Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma
>> Database: Google Books Preview
>>=20
>> https://books.google.com/books?id=3Dkg8FBAAAQBAJ&q=3Dtrots#v=3Dsnippet&
>>=20
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> All very hungry + tired. Had no salt to put on our little yearling.
>> Broiled it. The more we cooked it the biger it got. Eat it half done +
>> the consequence was all had the trots all night. Had a big laugh at
>> camp next morning.
>> [End excerpt]
>
>
> The excerpt is visible in Amazon's "look inside" viewer.  The date of this =
> entry is 9/1/1868.
>
> There is a later entry, for which the date cannot be seen, that goes: "Just=
>  as we got in town three or four of the children took the trots."
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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