[Ads-l] t(h)run

[Laurence Horn]

> On May 15, 2016, at 4:17 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> On Sat, May 14, 2016 at 1:44 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> I wonder if this present-tense "trun" is really a metathesis of "turn."
> 
> 
> C.D. Buck has mentioned the possibility that _turd_ is ultimately a
> metathesis of "dirt." FWIW, "dirt" is not unusual, IME, as
> annoyingly-prissy cover-term for "shit."

And "dirt" itself is a metathesis (and weakening) of ME "drit" 'excrement' so in a sense that euphemistic cover-term meaning is older than...well, dirt.  "Drit" even sounds dirtier than "dirt".

LH

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