[Ads-l] RES: Antedating of "Craps" (Game)

[Laurence Horn]

> On Jun 13, 2018, at 1:50 PM, David Daniel <dad at COARSECOURSES.COM> wrote:
> 
> Here's another one (there's a bunch):
> CREPS - Jeu, originaire d'Angleterre, qui se joue à deux ou plusieurs personnes avec un cornet et trois dés. Le tric-trac, la roulette et le creps (Balzac, Œuvres div.,t. 3, 1850, p. 120).Agiter bruyamment les cornets d'un creps infernal (Sue, Myst. de Paris,t. 6, 1842-43, p. 201).
> Prononc. et Orth. : [kʀ εps]. Lar. 19eet DG renvoient à crabs; Nouv. Lar. ill. et Lar. 20eà krabs. Étymol. et Hist. 1788 krabs (P. N. Huyn, La Théorie des jeux de hasard, ou analyse du krabs, du passe-dix... d'apr. Barb. Misc. 29 no19); 1789 kraps (Encyclop. méthod. d'apr. DG); 1838 creps (Ac. Compl. 1842). Prob. empr. à l'angl. crabs subst. plur., terme d'arg. « le plus faible coup de dés : les 2 as » 1768 ds NED auquel se rattache l'anglo-amér. craps jeu de dés (1843 ds NED Suppl.) d'orig. obscure. Bbg. Barb. Misc. 29 1944-52, p. 434. − Behrens Engl. 1927, p. 224.
> DAD
> 
> -----Mensagem original-----
> De: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] Em nome de David Daniel
> Enviada em: quarta-feira, 13 de junho de 2018 14:41
> Para: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Assunto: RES: Antedating of "Craps" (Game)
> 
> 
> Poster:       David Daniel <dad at COARSECOURSES.COM>
> Subject:      RES: Antedating of "Craps" (Game)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> According to an assortment of French dictionaries (not including Larousse,
> which doesn't have it, but here's one
> http://artflx.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/dicos/pubdico1look.pl?strippedhw=3Dcreps=
> )
> creps is a dice game that originated in England. One dictionary even says i=
> t
> is a corruption of English "crabs".
> DAD
> 
> 
The OED speculates that “craps” may derive from the “crab” of “crabapple” (the tree and fruit, not Bart Simpson's late near-homonymic teacher).
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