[Ads-l] antedating "flyboy" 'aviator' (sort of)

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Fri Jan 4 15:10:36 UTC 2019


OK, these are just puns, but they're headed in the Wright direction.The new
meaning didn't begin to catch on, apparently, till Milton Caniff used it in
"Terry and the Pirates" on Oct. 20,1940 (and after).

[1909 _Tampa Morning Tribune_ (Aug. 3) 6: While Willie was in Washington he
allowed President Taft to accompany him to Fort Myer to witness the
aeroplane flights of the Wright Brothers, and ever since he has labored
under the delusion that he is an airship. Willie always was a "fly boy"
anyhow].

[1912 _San Francisco Chronicle_ (July 27) 6: "A FLY BOY. Maud. - What's
wrong, old girl? Ethel. - It's all about Jack. I asked him to take me up in
his aeroplane. Maud. - Well? Ethel. - He simply flew at me!  - London
Opinion.]

JL

-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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