[Ads-l] "long drink of water" redux

[Ben Zimmer]

Back in 2005, I posted about "long drink of water" = 'tall slim person' (in
HDAS from 1936), with cites from 1914-15.

https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2005-May/049271.html

In 2009, OED3 added "long/tall drink of water" to the entry for "drink,"
taking it back to 1913. Here it is from 1906 (the first cite is similative).

---
Buffalo Times, Sept. 2, 1906, p. 40, col. 7
Joe Moore, who has a figure like a long drink of water and who hails from
Chicago, is known in the crook world as "Chicago Slim."
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-times-long-drink-of-water/186047513/
---
(New York) Evening World, Nov. 12, 1906, p. 4, col. 1
Judge Charies N. Bulger, of Oswego, laughed heartily at the State
Chairman's description of the tall. slender-necked Brooklyn statesman as a
"long drink of water."
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-world-long-drink-of-water/186046806/
---

--bgz

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