[Ads-l] "Bullshit" ca1879

[Jonathan Lighter]

My SWAG re "bagged-legged" is that it means 'habitually wearing baggy,
ill-fitting trousers.'

But it's only a SWAG.

JL

On Thu, Aug 17, 2017 at 7:26 PM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:

> I've summarized my findings (with a tip of the hat to JL) on the Strong
> Language blog:
>
> https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2017/08/17/the-curious-
> case-of-bull-shit-jack/
>
> --bgz
>
> On Thu, Aug 17, 2017 at 6:29 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Great work, Ben.
> >
> > And we see 1879 exx. of "B.S." as well.  Cf. spoken "G.D.," "S.O.B.,"
> > "M.F." (And obsolete "D.F." 'damned fool.')
> >
> > If "bull shit" had been a neologism, I'd expect the typesetters to have
> > employed "Bull S---" rather than letter-expurgating both words, printable
> > "bull" being contaminated by unprintable "shit."
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Thu, Aug 17, 2017 at 4:10 PM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > So much for the idea that T. S. Eliot was the coiner of the word
> > > "bullshit" ...
> > >
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



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