[Ads-l] Antedating of golf term "mulligan" to 1919--in cricket!!

[Baker, John]

What would "an English athletic meet in Berlin in 1917" have been understood to be, in Salt Lake City in 1915?


John Baker


Sent from my iPad

> On Jun 20, 2016, at 8:58 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU> wrote:
> 
> Yes, very nice find, Sam.
> 
> I wonder whether the context helps determine whether "mulligan" here is from the US writer's perspective (of golf or baseball) and then the author switches back to British usage for cricket, "as they call it."?
> 
> I ask partly because mulligan stew (and rail car) and mulligan in golf are apparently of American origin. Mulligan can also refer to a party.* (The earlier Mulligan Guard musical theater shows may or may not be relevant.)
> 
> If there is a link from the stew to the ball game, might it be that the stew has no fixed menu and the ball game as played allowing mulligans is informal in terms of score-keeping?
> 
> 
> * For example. [HNAm} Salt lake Telegram 7-26-1915 p.12 col. 6:
> 
> Hail! Hail!  Hail! The Gang was Entirely There at the "Mulligan"....
> 
> ...A "Mulligan" is a great affair. It's a sort of cross between a Sunday school meeting in Japan and an English athletic meet in Berlin in 1917.....
> 
> 
> <http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/>
> 
> 
> Stephen Goranson
> 
> http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/
> 
> 
> <http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/>
> 
> <http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/>
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <...> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Friday, June 17, 2016 10:55 PM
> To: ...
> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Antedating of golf term "mulligan" to 1919--in cricket!!
> 
> Remarkable discovery, Sam. Thanks for sharing it. Perhaps someone who
> understands cricket can help us to learn more about the context.
> 
> The top of the page (listing the date) was cut off. But the top of the
> page was visible on the previous page, and the date of April 19, 1919
> was visible.
> Garson
> 
>> On Fri, Jun 17, 2016 at 8:10 PM,  <...> wrote:
>> Using GenealogyBank, a full page article entitled "Why Our Baseball Is Better Than British Cricket."
>> 
>> _The Colorado Springs Gazette_ 19 April 1919, 12/3.
>> 
>> "If it is a bad ball, "off the wicket," he may take a "mulligan" at it and knock it over the fence, "out of bounds" they call it."
>> 
>> Now, I'm not at all a cricket person so, if I've misinterpreted this, please let me know.
>> 
>> Sam Clements
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.americandialect.org&d=CwIBaQ&c=imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=uUVa-8oDL2EzfbuMuowoUadHHcJ7pjul6iFkS5Pd--8&m=fRDCkvY2oQskquDPbroIguBINBp3EWSGD2vC9ghgBB0&s=_nd_tpaS3MwOeOBn8Err2cITZvdRTNy7mIoDZ9sjRsQ&e=>
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 

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