[Ads-l] off topic: nose buttering

[Laurence Horn]

> On Jul 30, 2019, at 10:43 AM, Andy Bach <afbach at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
>>> spanked the birthday person
>> I'm familiar with that. "And one [extra spank] to grow on!"
> "And a pinch to grow an inch!”
“And a smile to grow a mile!”

> 
> On Mon, Jul 29, 2019 at 10:55 PM Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> spanked the birthday person
>> 
>> I'm familiar with that. "And one [extra spank] to grow on!"
>> 
>> On Sat, Jul 27, 2019 at 7:48 PM Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> According to
>>> http://mentalfloss.com/article/52335/7-birthday-traditions-around-world <
>>> http://mentalfloss.com/article/52335/7-birthday-traditions-around-world>
>>> and http://www.atlanticcoastentertainment.com/birthday_traditions.htm <
>>> http://www.atlanticcoastentertainment.com/birthday_traditions.htm>,
>>> greasing the nose of a person having a birthday is a tradition on the
>>> Atlantic side of Canada.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> http://thewheelanddistaff.blogspot.com/2011/08/getting-your-nose-buttered.html
>>> <
>>> http://thewheelanddistaff.blogspot.com/2011/08/getting-your-nose-buttered.html>
>>> says that Floyd, Patrick and Carrolls counties of Virginia have this
>>> tradition, and there are comments saying it happens in Kentucky, Rhode
>>> Island and West Virginia, among other locations. There are more locations
>>> at
>>> http://www.ichblog.ca/2012/09/butter-on-your-nose-slippery-birthday.html <
>>> http://www.ichblog.ca/2012/09/butter-on-your-nose-slippery-birthday.html>.
>>> Here’s a book (https://tinyurl.com/y6qn9fwa <https://tinyurl.com/y6qn9fwa>)
>>> saying it exists in St. Louis, Missouri. Very scattered.
>>> 
>>> As per
>>> https://www.plaidforwomen.com/read-post/butter-your-nose-its-tradition/ <
>>> https://www.plaidforwomen.com/read-post/butter-your-nose-its-tradition/>,
>>> it is said to be for good luck as the grease causes bad luck to slide off
>>> your nose.
>>> 
>>> I have ancestors who lived more than 100 years in the Atlantic states of
>>> Canada and they didn’t pass that tradition down, but my more recent
>>> ancestors from the Virginias did (they also spanked the birthday person and
>>> threw them under the bed). We still practice nose-buttering to this day.
>>> 
>>> I can’t find any evidence on Google to tie this to an Old Country. Does
>>> anyone have any idea where this custom might come form?
>>> 
>>> Benjamin Barrett (he/him/his)
>>> Formerly of Seattle, WA
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> 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
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> a
> 
> Andy Bach,
> afbach at gmail.com
> 608 658-1890 cell
> 608 261-5738 wk
> 
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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