[Ads-l] Antedatings of "screwball"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Yes, indeedy. In 1868, e.g.:

https://tinyurl.com/2p8pt92k

JL


On Fri, Aug 12, 2022 at 8:02 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

>
>
> 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."
>


-- 
"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