[Ads-l] nervous breakdown 1866

[Chris Waigl]

On Mon, Feb 15, 2021 at 4:15 PM Mark Mandel <markamandel at gmail.com> wrote:

> "was salivated"?
>

OED suggests that this probably means "was treated with mercury". Or
potentially quinine. (A drug that makes you salivate.) The whole text is
quite picturesque. (It's an advice column, if you follow the long link in
the OP.)

-- 
Chris Waigl . chris.waigl at gmail.com . chris at lascribe.net
http://eggcorns.lascribe.net . http://chryss.eu

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