[Ads-l] Ain't got no clue

[Dan Goncharoff]

I am not sure references to clues by detectives, or in solving a mystery,
is a change in the original meaning of "not having a clue".
DanG


On Sun, Nov 6, 2022 at 3:26 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Interesting topic, JL. The 1854 and 1865 citations below might match
> the OED sense for the colloquial phrase "not to have a clue". There
> are several earlier matches, but the domain of the clue might be
> overly specific. See the 1816 and 1819 citations.
>
> [Begin OED excerpt]
> clue, n.
>  e. Colloquial phrase not to have a clue: to have no idea; not to
> know; to be ignorant or incompetent.
> [1870   E. C. Brewer Dict. Phrase & Fable 171/2   Clue. I have not yet
> got the clue; to give a clue, i.e. a hint.
> 1924   A. E. W. Mason House of Arrow ii. 20   That doesn't bring us
> any nearer to finding out what is Boris Waberski's strong suit... We
> haven't a clue to it.]
> 1948   E. Partridge et al. Dict. Forces' Slang 43   ‘He simply hasn't
> a clue’—he is completely ignorant of his job, or of what is going on.
> 1950   J. Cannan Murder Included iv. 59   As I believe they say
> nowadays, I haven't a clue.
> [End OED excerpt]
>
> Year: 1854
> Title: The Dodd Family Abroad
> Author: Charles Lever
> Volume 2, Chapter: Letter 20, Quote Page 176
> Publisher: Chapman and Hall, London
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=qaKzEVOZ5bkC&q=%22not+a+clue%22#v=snippet&
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> I'll not tax your patience with the recital, but frankly confess to
> you that I have not a clue, even the slightest, to the mystery; nor,
> from the manner in which I have learned its existence, can I venture
> to ask Lord George to aid me.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Date: December 9, 1865
> Periodical: The Family Herald: A Domestic Magazine
> Story Installment: Tracked At Last
> Chapter 30
> Start Page 504, Quote Page 506
> Publisher: William Stevens, London
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=snRPAQAAMAAJ&q=%22not+a+clue%22#v=snippet&
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> "I can't make it out, sir; positively I can't. Detective as I am, I am
> forced to acknowledge myself for a time stumped," said Mark Seyton,
> rising up from his chair, and walking up and down the long room at the
> centre table of which sat Everard Effingham and his mother.
> "How--in what way?" asked Effingham.
> "How!" repeated Seyton; "in every way! I have not a clue; I cannot
> tell which way to turn. You know that image-seller whom I met at the
> cricket match?"
> [End excerpt]
>
> Year: 1816
> Book: The Parliamentary History of England, from the Earliest Period
> to the Year 1803
> Section: Debate in the Commons on the East India Company's Relief Bill
> Volume 26, Date of Bill: A.D. 1786
> Author: "W. Hastings", Column 166
> Printed by T. C. Hansard, London
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=uLwTAAAAYAAJ&q=%22not+a+clue%22#v=snippet&
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> I guess the purport of the effaced letter to be a commission to me to
> deliver the letter to the King, and most probably the bulse with it,
> the contents of which I have not a clue to conjecture.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Year: 1819
> Book: A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High
> Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors
> Section: Trail of David Maclane for High Treason
> Trial Date: A.D. 1797, Column 782
> Publisher: For Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=7VlTAAAAcAAJ&q=%22have+a+clue%22#v=snippet&
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> We were landed about a quarter of a mile from the Fort, I did not know
> that it was necessary that I should give in my name at any place, and
> I shunned St. John's, that my creditors might not have a clue to find
> me.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Sat, Nov 5, 2022 at 10:13 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > OED has "not have a clue" (to be completely ignorant) from 1948, with
> > bracketed exx. from 1870 and 1924.
> >
> > None of its exx. are from the U.S.
> >
> > 1932 Bartlett Cormack _The Phantom of Crestwood_ (film): Well, I grilled
> > the servants. They ain't got no clue, so I locked 'em up.
> >
> > Set in a California mansion.
> >
> > 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
>

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