[Ads-l] "shaggy dog...metaphor" 1887

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Thu Nov 7 11:58:20 UTC 2019


Newfoundlands may be the shaggiest dogs out there, and Presidents are
newsworthy.

So there's a very remote chance that this info is slightly relevant:

http://www.presidentialpetmuseum.com/pets/faithful-president-grant-dog/

JL

On Thu, Nov 7, 2019 at 5:38 AM Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:

> Metaphor, yes. I thought it might be interesting (perhaps not) for
> including "not so shaggy" which does several times appear, admittedly
> later, with shaggy dog stories.
> Maybe comparable (or not) with posted "bear stories" or maybe ones about
> the fish that got away (told but undercut?).
> Stephen
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <...> on behalf of Peter Reitan <...>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 6, 2019 6:37 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <...>
> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] "shaggy dog...metaphor" 1887
>
> I read the metaphor as a simple comparison of him to a dog that is
> literally shaggy, not an allusion to a  "shaggy dog story."
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <...> on behalf of Stephen Goranson <...>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 6, 2019 2:39:33 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <...>
> Subject: "shaggy dog...metaphor" 1887
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <...>
> Poster:       Stephen Goranson <...>
> Subject:      "shaggy dog...metaphor" 1887
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> My apology for repeating JL's find.
> Here's a Jan. 21, 1887 use in The Evening Gazette, Monmouth, Illinois, p.
> 3=
>  col. 2, with an image of a balding man:
>
> ....the usual view [of Republican leader] Tom Reed of Maine. Reed is a big
> =
> Newfoundland dog in general appearance and manner, save that he is not so
> s=
> haggy and hairy as he should be to make the metaphor precise.....
>
> S. Goranson
>
>
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__idnc.library.illinois.edu_cgi-2Dbin_illinois-3Fa-3D3Dd-26d-3D3DTEG18870121.1.-3D&d=DwIFAg&c=imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=uUVa-8oDL2EzfbuMuowoUadHHcJ7pjul6iFkS5Pd--8&m=uWilOue2Zzs-K_SsdkZ7tTsT0mrmu54cAoIPQvSBPfs&s=EgrKJJWucw4P_9aMTWf41Rv8iJSD6sgdiq1BcU9_cl8&e=
> 3&txq=3D%2522not+so+shaggy%2522
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__idnc.library.illinois.edu_cgi-2Dbin_illinois-3Fa-3D3Dd-26d-3D3DTEG18870121.1.-3D&d=DwIFAg&c=imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=uUVa-8oDL2EzfbuMuowoUadHHcJ7pjul6iFkS5Pd--8&m=uWilOue2Zzs-K_SsdkZ7tTsT0mrmu54cAoIPQvSBPfs&s=EgrKJJWucw4P_9aMTWf41Rv8iJSD6sgdiq1BcU9_cl8&e=3&txq=3D%2522not+so+shaggy%2522>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


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