[Ads-l] Antedatings of "screwball"

[Jonathan Lighter]

And here's Skewie with long esses:

https://tinyurl.com/4xtvvebt

JL

On Fri, Aug 12, 2022 at 8:08 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 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."
>


-- 
"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