[Ads-l] Early (?) infixing

[Ben Zimmer]

Here's "inde-bloody-pendent" from 1901:

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113892403/american-slang-abroad/
Burlington (Vt.) Free Press, Aug. 17, 1901, p. 7, col. 6, "American Slang
Abroad"
When they [the British] do try for the striking they are frequently
labored. One man told another he was "too inde-bloody-pendent."


On Wed, Nov 30, 2022 at 2:11 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
wrote:

> The following antedates the 1909 citation in the OED entry for
> expletive infixed instances of 'absolutely' which I posted previously.
>
> Date: March 24, 1906
> Periodical: Notes and Queries
> Topic: Portmanteau Words and Phrases
> Correspondent: Chas. A Bernau
>
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=aGYEAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Abso-blooming%22#v=snippet&
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> "Abso-(blooming)-lutely" is atrocious, but worth recording on account
> of its ugliness.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Wed, Nov 30, 2022 at 1:22 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Interesting topic, Ben.
> > The Oxford English Dictionary has pertinent information within the
> > entry about 'absolutely'.
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > absolutely, adv. and int.
> > B. int. colloquial.
> > 2. With an expletive infixed for humorous emphasis, as
> > abso-blessed-lutely, abso-bloody-lutely, abso-blooming-lutely, etc.
> > 1909   R. E. Beach Silver Horde xi. 147   'Did you rustle this money
> > without any help?' he demanded. 'Abso-blooming-lutely!'
> > 1912   A. M. N. Lyons Clara xxiv. 265   His Information was
> > abso-blessed-lutely good and all the very latest; right Up-to-Date.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Garson
> >
> > On Wed, Nov 30, 2022 at 10:54 AM Ben Yagoda <byagoda at udel.edu> wrote:
> > >
> > > From Walt McDougall, “Old Days on the World,” American Mercury,
> January 1925. McDougall, an illustrator, is writing about his time on The
> World in the 1880s and ‘90s.
> > >
> > >  “[Joseph] Pulitzer and [John A.] Cockerill were the most profane men
> I have ever encountered. I learned much from them, for their joint
> vocabulary was extensive and in some respects unique. When J. P. was
> dictating an editorial upon some pet topic, such as Collis P. Huntington's
> ill-gotten wealth, Jay Gould's infamous railroad wrecking or Cyrus Field's
> income, his speech was so interlarded with sulphurous and searing phrases
> that the whole staff shuddered. He was the first man I ever heard who split
> a word to insert an oath. He did it often, and his favorite was
> ‘indegoddamnpendent.’”
>

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