[Ads-l] Kill or Be Killed

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Tue Jul 5 00:07:30 UTC 2022


1578 Thomas Churchyard _A Lamentable, and Pitifull Description, of the
Wofull Warres in Flaunders_ (London: Ralph Newberie ) 60: The _Spaniards_
...hastily went about to kill or be killed.

1580 _The First Part of the Mirrour of Princely Deeds and Knighthood_
(London: Thomas East) 92: For in this quarell I will kill or be killed.

1694 Benjamin Keach _A Golden Mine Opened_ (London: The Author) 486: We
must either kill or be killed.

1784 _Independent Ledger_ (Boston) (Apr. 26) 1: It is sufficient to say to
a liar, he does lie, in order to kill or be killed by him.--This they call
duelling.

1799 _The North American_ (Phila.) (June 22) 2: Kill or be killed is the
maxim of the _Muscovites_.

Etc.

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

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


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