[Ads-l] break a leg

[Andy Bach]

1811
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Lexicon_Balatronicum/iDsJAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22Break%20a%20leg%22
Lexicon Balatronicum
A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence
By Francis Grose, Hewson Clarke, George Cruikshank · 1811

Leg. To make a leg; to bow. To give leg-bail and land security; to run
away. To fight at the leg; to take unfair advantage: it being held
unfair by back-sword players to strike at the leg.
        To break a leg; a woman who has had a bastard, is said to have
broken a leg.

On Thu, Jul 16, 2020 at 11:22 AM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 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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> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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-- 

a

Andy Bach,
afbach at gmail.com
608 658-1890 cell
608 261-5738 wk

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