[Ads-l] Limerick at Oxford 1881, again

Stephen Goranson 0000179d4093b2d6-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Wed Jun 11 16:08:22 UTC 2025


"Come to Limerick," meaning get to the point and the like, in US Civil War era and after was attested only in the US.
(Bob Turvey's new book agreed.)

To repeat:
"Charles Larcom Graves was a student at Oxford, source [later] of many early "Limerick
rhymes," and presumably was in attendance in 1881 when the Bishop of Limerick,
his father, was reportedly greeted with "...Won't you come up to Limerick
town?"

Who started that chant, the meaning of which the honoree and his sons, at the time, apparently, were clueless?

Oxford students from America?

Stephen Goranson

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


More information about the Ads-l mailing list