[Ads-l] "old boy" = the devil, 1692; antedates OED3 [1737], 1782

[Flourish Klink]

It took me far too long to make out that "lidea" was Lydia, not Idea.

Idea would be a lovely name for a young woman. Almost as good as Flourish.

On Wed, Sep 14, 2016 at 8:05 PM Joel Berson <berson at att.net> wrote:

> "lidea Nichals aged about 17 years testifieth and saith that about a yeare
> & halfe agoe I asked abigaille hobs how she darst lie out a nights in ye
> woods alone she told me she was not a fraid of any thing for she told me
> she had sold herselfe boddy & soule to ye old boy."
>
> Records of Salem Witchcraft, copied from the Original Documents.  Vol. 1.
> Privately printed for W. Elliot Woodward, Roxbury, Mass., 1864.  Page 177.
> Google Books, full view.
>
> Deposition assuredly 1692, but I cannot determine the month and day.
>
>
> Antedates OED3 "old boy" sense 4.  [1737], 1782--.
>
> Joel
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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