[Ads-l] chow[-]down, interj., n., v.i., v.t.

[Jonathan Lighter]

Early exx. Details in HDAS I.



1934 _Nashville Tennessean_ (Dec. 2) (TVA Section) 6:  The kind of a room
where construction men used to wait for the call, "Chow down."


1935 _Springfield [Mass.] Republican_ (Aug. 20) 4:  During Naval Reserve
Cruise ..."Caulking-off" after "chow -down" or in plain English, taking it
easy after lunch.


1942 Times-Picayune [N.O.]_ (Aug. 3) 10:  The cry of "chow down" carries
the same meaning for the enlisted men that "Dinner is served, sir," has for
the officers.


1945 _Knoxville [Tenn.] News-Sentinel_ (Oct. 7, 1945) 13:  We plan to serve
you in the same way our men are "chowed down."


1950 _Oregonian_ [Portland] (Dec. 5) 9: So we chowed down some chow.


1951 _Seattle Sunday Times_ (Jan. 19) 51: The visit was topped off by
"chowing down" in the enlisted men's mess.


1962 _Augusta [Ga.] Chronicle_  (July 22) 15: The two senators literally
chowed-down on the watermelons.

JL



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

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