[Ads-l] "old boy" = the devil + OED antedating of "Old Roger".

[Laurence Horn]

> On Sep 16, 2016, at 9:22 AM, Robin Hamilton <robin.hamilton3 at VIRGINMEDIA.COM> wrote:
> 
> Ah, I must have misread you. I was simply slightly puzzled as to why you picked
> the second rather than the first date.
> 
> While I can understand (and respect) your lack of interest in Old Nick, I
> thought that contextualising the term you originally drew attention to might be
> useful. I think in this case, you may have misunderstood me -- the sites I
> pointed to don't simply deal with Old Nick, but with terms referring to the
> Devil in general.
> 
> I found it interesting that the term “old boy” emerges not simply at a
> particular time (as you point out) but in a particular place, Salem, and that
> it's not only a subset of a particular set of terms, but a geographically-tagged
> member of that subset.
> 
> Which might raise two further queries:
> 
> Why does it emerge in America, in particular? and Why is it the least common of
> such terms? It doesn't seem to have gained nearly the same traction as “Old
> Nick” had in England, or “Auld Hornie” had in Scotland.
> 
> At least, I'm assuming the term didn't gain traction, indeed might simply be a
> nonce-usage. Or am I wrong, and it is, or was, actually the preferred term in
> America?
> 

One vote here for "Auld Hornie".

LH

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