[Ads-l] Antedatings of "screwball"

[Jonathan Lighter]

On Thu, Aug 11, 2022 at 9:49 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

> So "Stewball" started out as "Skewball", who started out as "Skewbald", not
> to be confused with "Piebald"--a more widely attested equine but with no
> musical legacy.
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 11, 2022 at 9:09 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > I
> >
> > 1866: OED (in cricket)
> >
> > 1839  _Sun_ (Baltimore) (June 10) 3: AUCTION OF DURHAM
> > CATTLE..._Screwball_, red and white, bred by Gen. Gresham Parsons, of
> > Brighton, Mass.
> >
> > Doubtless an unlisted variant of "skewbald." Cf. "Skewball was a
> > racehorse...."
> >
> > II
> >
> > 1933: OED
> >
> > 1932  _Milwaukee Journal _ (Nov. 8) 24: Johnny “Screwball” Blood – Whence
> > that “screwball”? Well, sir, it’s this way – Mr. Blood is a bit of an
> > eccentric. He is inclined to cut capers.
> >
> > 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
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 
"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