[Ads-l] "big cheese" 1815

[Jonathan Lighter]

Maybe "I did a reel"?

JL

On Mon, May 29, 2023 at 10:55 PM Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Has anyone seen a facsimile of the original?
>
> What's the likelihood that it's "big Highland chief"?
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Monday, May 29, 2023 2:00:17 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: "big cheese" 1815
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "big cheese" 1815
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Need I add that I'm skeptical of both the Scottish and Kiwi exx.?
>
> Especially since "Big Highland Cheese" includes a very unusual tmesis,
> which seems to suggest that "big cheese" was already lexicalized and
> familiar.
>
> Just my 2c.
>
> JL
>
> On Mon, May 29, 2023 at 3:51=E2=80=AFPM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmai
> =
> l.com>
> wrote:
>
> > FWIW, big cheeses were sometimes a big deal.
> >
> > 1802 The Wasp (Hudson, N.Y.) (July 31) 2: The following Toast, drank
> [sic=
> ]
> > by the Cheshire folks, who made the big Cheese [sic] for Mr.
> > Jefferson....May the splendour of the Republican SUN continue to eclipse
> > the twinklings of the Western Lightning Bug.
> >
> > 1828 Poulson's American Daily Advertiser (Phila.) (Nov. 14, 1828) 3: "A
> > BIG CHEESE. The Berkshire American states that Mr. Israel Cole, of North
> > Adams, has made a "hundred pound cheese to be presented to Jackson in
> cas=
> e
> > he was elected President."
> >
> > 1885 Buffalo [N.Y.] Evening News (Nov. 7) 4: "FREE SHOW!" The Two Big
> > Cheese [sic] CITY OF BUFFALO, 3398 lbs.,  VILLAGE OF AURORA 3394 lbs.,
> Ar=
> e
> > now on exhibition at our store.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Mon, May 29, 2023 at 2:14=E2=80=AFPM Steven Losie <stevenlosie at gmail.c
> =
> om>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> In case nobody has seen it, Green's Dictionary of Slang cites an 1885
> >> newspaper article in New Zealand for "big cheese":
> >>
> >> [begin quote]
> >> What attraction is there for Ken at the manager=E2=80=99s? Is it to see
> =
> that big
> >> cheese?
> >> [end quote]
> >> Source: Observer and Freelance (Wellington, NZ) 5 Sept. 1885 p.4/2
> >>
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> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth=
> ."
> >
>
>
> --=20
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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