[Ads-l] on days ending in the letter Y

Tue Dec 12 20:59:00 UTC 2023

Values for seafood have certainly fluctuated over the centuries. Recall the reference in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales to "a monk out of his cloystre…nat worth an oystre”. (Chaucer even invokes the fish out of water analogy for the poor beached monk, although not the fish without the bicycle.)  

And while it might be thought that a dozen oysters could be held in reasonable repute even if a single oyster was deemed worthless, there are also expressions alluding to “not worth a lobster”, as the 19th century philologist Pott noted.  That was well before the current age in which a lobster roll, at least in NYC, is apparently worth $32:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/14/nyregion/nyc-costs-lobster-roll-fries.html

But you do get fries with that.

As for the no-oysters-in-months-without-R edict, I can’t recall if it’s because for some reason you become ill if you eat oysters harvested in the spring/summer or because you need to leave them in the sea during those months when they’re busy propagating more oysters.  Or both.  

LH

> On Dec 12, 2023, at 3:33 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> The guideline about oyster season was circulating in the 1700s in
> Scotland. The market for oysters was small in the early decades of the
> 1700s in Scotland according to the citation below.
> 
> Year: 1796
> Book: The Statistical Account of Scotland: Drawn Up from the
> Communications of the Ministers of the Different Parishes
> Author: Sir John Sinclair
> Volume 17
> Printed and Sold by William Creech, Edinburgh, Scotland
> Quote Page 71
> Database: Google Books
> 
> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DDDAtAAAAYAAJ%26q%3D%2522letter%2BR%2522%23v%3Dsnippet%26q%3D%2522letter%2520R%2522%26f%3Dfalse&data=05%7C02%7Claurence.horn%40bulldogs.yale.edu%7C0b164081fa0a46866a1b08dbfb51b622%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638380100595059940%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=5OpuWZxKrTphOCBTNJQhG7CTyuVu%2Bl1f%2F2xUAW5P5H4%3D&reserved=0 <https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DDDAtAAAAYAAJ%26q%3D%2522letter%2BR%2522%23v%3Dsnippet%26q%3D%2522letter%2520R%2522%26f%3Dfalse&data=05%7C02%7Claurence.horn%40bulldogs.yale.edu%7C0b164081fa0a46866a1b08dbfb51b622%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638380100595059940%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=5OpuWZxKrTphOCBTNJQhG7CTyuVu%2Bl1f%2F2xUAW5P5H4%3D&reserved=0>
> 
> [Begin excerpt]
> The common observation is, that the oyster season lasts during all the
> months in which the letter R occurs. But the fishers have not confined
> themselves strictly to these months; and this is another cause of the
> scarcity*.
> [End excerpt]
> 
> [Begin excerpt]
> * Some of the aged inhabitants report, that, about 60 or 70 years ago,
> oysters were in little estimation. In a judicial declaration, emitted
> A.D. 1776, by a residenter here, then 67 years old, he deponed, that
> he remembered when there were not above 3 or 4 boats employed: That
> they seldom caught above 600 in a day; and that there was little or no
> demand, or sale for them, at that period.
> [End excerpt]
> 
> Garson
> 
> On Mon, Dec 11, 2023 at 8:26 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu <mailto:laurence.horn at yale.edu>> wrote:
>> 
>> Is there a tacit allusion in all of these to the edict that one should only eat oysters in months containing the letter “R”?  Presumably that one was around a lot longer than the jocular version with days ending in “Y”.  I learned it from my parents in the early 1950s and no doubt it had a longer shelf life (unlike the oysters, one hopes) than that.
>> 
>> LH
>> 
>>> On Dec 11, 2023, at 7:39 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Great work, Steven. Following your lead I found the citation below
>>> which indicates that the joke was circulating amongst some golfers by
>>> 1971.
>>> 
>>> Date: February 8, 1971
>>> Newspaper: Pacific Daily News
>>> Newspaper Location: Agana Heights, Guam
>>> Article: Pipe Dreams
>>> Author: Joe Murphy
>>> Quote Page 10, Column 1
>>> Database: Newspapers.com <http://newspapers.com/> <https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewspapers.com%2F&data=05%7C02%7Claurence.horn%40bulldogs.yale.edu%7C0b164081fa0a46866a1b08dbfb51b622%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638380100595059940%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=YOZg7mEHMGEAln4XUh6%2BTGHAPJ2Lh%2B75fKq6rjtcByk%3D&reserved=0 <https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewspapers.com%2F&data=05%7C02%7Claurence.horn%40bulldogs.yale.edu%7C0b164081fa0a46866a1b08dbfb51b622%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638380100595059940%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=YOZg7mEHMGEAln4XUh6%2BTGHAPJ2Lh%2B75fKq6rjtcByk%3D&reserved=0>>
>>> 
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>>> 
>>> [Begin excerpt]
>>> Speaking of days of the week, a fellow I know says that he likes to
>>> play golf just on those days ending with "y".
>>> [End excerpt]
>>> 
>>> Garson
>>> 
>>> On Mon, Dec 11, 2023 at 5:12 PM Steven Losie <stevenlosie at gmail.com <mailto:stevenlosie at gmail.com> <mailto:stevenlosie at gmail.com <mailto:stevenlosie at gmail.com>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Variations on this quote by former NBA basketball star Jerry West were
>>>> printed in various newspapers at the end of 1974. It appears to have
>>>> originated in the 31 October 1974 edition of the L.A. Times, as quoted
>>>> below:
>>>> 
>>>> [begin quote]
>>>> Jerry West, asked how many days a week he plays golf since retiring from
>>>> basketball: "Only on days ending in 'y'."
>>>> [end quote]
>>>> Source: Los Angeles Times, 31 Oct 1974, p.E2, col.2 (ProQuest Historical
>>>> Newspapers)
>>>> Article title: Morning Briefing: Ali's Prediction of Upset Win Turned Out
>>>> Letter Perfect
>>>> 
>>>> [begin quote]
>>>> Former basketball star Jerry West told an interviewer that since his
>>>> retirement, he's been playing golf: "But only on days ending in 'y'."
>>>> [end quote]
>>>> Source: Hartford Courant, 29 Nov 1974, p.105, cols.3-4 (ProQuest Historical
>>>> Newspapers)
>>>> Article title: Berle 'Roasted' by Friars Club
>>>> Author: Earl Wilson
>>>> 
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
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>> 
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