[Ads-l] Metonymy: cartridge-box, ballot-box, jury-box, and band-box

[Wilson Gray]

Off-topic:

> Metonymy

Thanks, Garson! I've been trying to recall the word, _metaphony_, for
months-uh!

"The Bandbox": name of a chain of dry-cleaners in StL: "When you step out
of The Bandbox. life will step up for you!"

On Wed, Apr 11, 2018 at 12:55 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:

> I was asked to explore a saying about boxes employed by Stephen
> Decatur Miller, Frederick Douglass, and many others. The earliest
> version I found was dated October 9, 1830 and referred to:
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> the ballot box, the jury box and the cartouch box
> [End excerpt]
>
> Background and details are available here:
> https://quoteinvestigator.com/2018/04/09/ballot/
>
> If a list member can find and share earlier instances that would be
> great, but this message is about a citation dated October 9, 1841:
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> What boxes govern the world? The cartridge-box, the ballot-box, the
> jury-box, and the band-box.--New York paper.
> [Begin excerpt]
>
> I am not sure what the band-box represents. My best guess is: fashion
> and stylishness.  Following fashion is desirable or necessary; also,
> fashionable people exert power in society. The addition of the fourth
> box was done with comical overtones, I think.
>
> Any other suggestions?
>
> Here are some senses and citations for bandbox from the OED.
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> bandbox, n.
>
> a. A slight box of card-board or very thin chip covered with paper,
> for collars, caps, hats, and millinery; originally made for the
> ‘bands’ or ruffs of the 17th c. Also fig., a fragile or flimsy
> structure or one in which the accommodation is restricted.
> . . .
> b. to look as if one came out of a bandbox (and similar phrases): to
> look extremely smart and neat. orig. U.S.
>
> 1825   S. Woodworth Forest Rose i. i   He is a genteel, delightful
> looking fellow, neat as a starched tucker fresh from a banbox [sic].
>
> 1833   Knickerbocker 1 198   The old gentleman..popped into the room,
> looking as if he had stepped out of a bandbox.
>
> 1869   ‘M. Twain’ Innocents Abroad xxxviii. 410   They are
> all..exceedingly neat and cleanly..as if they were just out of a
> band-box.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



-- 
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

------------------------------------------------------------
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