[Ads-l] break a leg

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The 1859 slang book "Vocabulum" published in New York included an
entry for "TO BREAK A LEG" which specified a closely related sense.

Year: 1859
Book Title: Vocabulum: Or, The Rogue's Lexicon
Editor: George W. Matsell
Publisher: George W. Matsell & Company, New York
Quote Page 90
https://books.google.com/books?id=07NZAAAAMAAJ&q=+%22break+a+leg%22#v=snippet&

[Begin excerpt]
TO BREAK A LEG. To seduce a girl.
[End excerpt]

Green’s Dictionary of Slang has a pertinent page with U.K. and U.S. citations.
https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/o4zbvxa

Garson

On Wed, Jul 15, 2020 at 4:29 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> The sentence is lexically ambiguous, but it's unlikely to assume, as Hall
> seems to, that an unidentified person broke the woman's leg, and that it
> was "mischief" of a sort that would arouse his curiosity.
>
> The idiom is attested earlier in England and later in the U.S. "A Word-List
> from Alabama,"  Dialect Notes, 1909, p. 294: "Break one's leg...Of a woman,
> to become with child illegitimately."
>
> JL
>
> On Wed, Jul 15, 2020 at 2:49 PM Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:
>
> > Is there internal evidence showing that Walker was referring to an
> > unwanted pregnancy and not to a literal break of the leg?  The wording
> > seems to me to be inconclusive.
> >
> >
> > John Baker
> >
> >
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of
> > Laurence Horn
> > Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2020 2:43 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: break a leg
> >
> > External Email - Think Before You Click
> >
> >
> > Or 'become pregnant or bear a child out of wedlock, esp. during a
> > successful theatrical performance'?
> >
> > Actually, the two idioms differ in this respect, since "She got her leg
> > broken" can't be understood as referring to a performance, as opposed to a
> > pre-performance "Break a leg!" I'm not even sure I could report "I told
> > her to break a leg, and she did" to mean she did well on stage, given the
> > frozenness of the idiom.
> >
> > LH
> >
> > On Wed, Jul 15, 2020 at 2:38 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> > <mailto:wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > 'To become pregnant or bear a child out of wedlock." Rarely attested in
> > > U.S.
> > >
> > > 1862 in C. A. Glenn, ed. _Robert Walker _Letters of Robert Walker, A
> > > Soldier in the American Civil War_ (Veroqua, Wis.: Vernon Co. Censor,
> > > 1917)11: And I heard about that poor unfortunate girl, Mary Campfield,
> > > getting her leg broken. I should like to know who she blames for the
> > > mischief.
> > >
> > > Walker (1841-1864) was from Saltlick, O.
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > --
> > > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > truth."
> > >
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> > http://www.americandialect.org>
> > >
> >
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> > http://www.americandialect.org>
> >
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> >
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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