[Ads-l] For want of an apostrophe ... [correction to the OED]
Joel Berson
berson at ATT.NET
Tue Mar 28 21:14:06 UTC 2017
Yes, a mob cap. My first interpretation. And no apostrophe -- they're all plurals.
Joel
From: Amy West <medievalist at W-STS.COM>
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2017 8:04 AM
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] For want of an apostrophe ... [correction to the OED]
On 3/28/17 12:00 AM, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
> Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2017 10:51:52 +0100
> From: Robin Hamilton<robin.hamilton3 at VIRGINMEDIA.COM>
> Subject: For want of an apostrophe ... [correction to the OED]
>
> Not quite a hanging matter, but the absence of an apostrophe causes the OED to
> provide a false citation for MOB, n1, "†2. A loose informal garment for a woman;
> = dishabille n. 2. Also mob-dress. Obs."
>
> The problem with this entry is the first citation. This reads, as the OED gives
> it:
>
> "1665 R. Head Eng. Rogue I. sig. F5v, Their Mobs, Scarfs, and Hoods all rent."
There's a style of historical cap called a "mob cap". "Mob" here makes
sense to me not as a garment but as a cap: The list would then be all
headgear.
---Amy West
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