[Ads-l] antedating "fuzz"; to "sneeze"; "sneezer"

[Jonathan Lighter]

OED: 1929

1922  _S.F. Call and Post_   (Nov. 2)  13 [Newspapers.com]: Underworld
slang...a "fuzz" is a detective.

Also as count-noun:

1929 _Des Moines Sunday Register_  (June 9)  L-11 [Newspapers.com]: The
fuzzes sneezed me while I was crackin' a crib.

Note too to "sneeze,"  'to apprehend and place under arrest.' Not in OED.

1921 _Birmingham Age-Herald_ (June 9) 10: Wise that bull there an' have the
mob sneezed.

1922 _Paducah Eve. Sun_ (March 30) 6 {Newspapers.com]: Sneezed - To be
arrested.

And "sneezer," 'jail; lockup; clink."

1931 Gene Fowler _The Great Mouthpiece_ (N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap) 165:
You're the only one that can save me a long stretch on the sneezer.

1942 _The Tatler_ (London) (Jan. 28) [Internet Arch.]: All three had a
wonderful all-too-brief time in the sneezer.

2016 Chad Dundas _Champion of the World_ (N.Y.: Putnam) 343: Three years in
the sneezer is a long time.

JL

-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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