[Ads-l] "In my room"

[Jonathan Lighter]

But maybe you do. See if your library offers off-campus electronic access.

JL

On Thu, Jul 13, 2017 at 8:35 PM, Jim Parish <jparish at siue.edu> wrote:

> I don't have access to OED from home, but I'll be going onto campus
> tomorrow; I'll check then.
>
> JP
>
>
>
> On 7/13/2017 7:23 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
>> So it was used everywhere.
>>
>> Have you tried OED?
>>
>> JL
>>
>> On Thu, Jul 13, 2017 at 7:22 PM, Jim Parish <jparish at siue.edu> wrote:
>>
>> Hm. The narrator of _Roderick Random_ is supposed to be a Scot, and Pepys
>>> was a Londoner born and bred.
>>>
>>> Jim Parish
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 7/13/2017 6:18 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>>
>>> I'm familiar with this from 19th C. Irish English.
>>>>
>>>> "In the room of" = 'in place of; instead of'
>>>>
>>>> "He shot his true love in the room of a swan." (Old Ballad)
>>>>
>>>> (Not in a swan's room, n.b.)
>>>>
>>>> JL
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Jul 13, 2017 at 7:07 PM, Jim Parish <jparish at siue.edu> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Yes, yes, I'm quite familiar with the song....
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 7/13/2017 5:41 PM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bV-dWhYklqE
>>>>>
>>>>>> On Jul 13, 2017 6:12 PM, "Jim Parish" <jparish at siue.edu> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> A while back, I was reading Pepys' Diary and was struck by the
>>>>>> repeated
>>>>>>
>>>>>> (metaphorical) use of "in my room", where, in my idiolect, "in my
>>>>>>> place"
>>>>>>> or
>>>>>>> even "in my stead" would be more natural. Now, I'm reading _Roderick
>>>>>>> Random_, written about eighty years later, and I have encountered the
>>>>>>> phrase again.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I have never run into the phrase anywhere else, and certainly not in
>>>>>>> any
>>>>>>> contemporary source. So I'm curious: is this construction still in
>>>>>>> use
>>>>>>> anywhere? Does anyone know when and where it was used?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Jim Parish
>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>
>>>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



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