[Ads-l] burgoo

[Charles C Rice]

You will find a lot of interesting information about this word in Laura Wright's 2023 book The Social Life of Words: A Historical Approach. She traces it from a term used for gruel on ships, down the Appalachians with Daniel Boone and back up the Mississippi with Lewis and Clark. Fascinating work.

Clai Rice
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Subject: burgoo

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Yesterday, the Spelling Bee word I lacked was burgoo. OED had two n. senses.
1. A thick oatmeal gruel or porridge used chiefly by seamen; loblolly.
2. A soup or stew made with a variety of meat and vegetables, used
especially at outdoor feasts. North American.

Sense 2 was added; with dates from 1743. Sense 1 apparently less revised,
with dates from 1750, even though it is probably the original. or at least,
I guess, the earlier sense of the two. Here's a long discussion of
mariner burgoo from 1696:

An Account of the Nature, Causes, Symptoms and Cure of the Distempers that
... - Google Books
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(The link is Edge style, which I don't like; we'll see if it works.)

An Account of the Nature, Causes, Symptoms and Cure of the ...
books.google.com › books
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William COCKBURN (M.D.)
<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fsca_esv%3D0c91811187e59922%26udm%3D36%26tbs%3Dcdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3AJan%2B1_2%2B1616%2Ccd_max%3ADec%2B31_2%2B1697%26sxsrf%3DANbL-n4btgcVwor4hS_6iHfXVcpFAsSNfw%3A1773583612612%26udm%3D36%26q%3Dinauthor%3A%2522William%2BCOCKBURN&data=05%7C02%7Ccharles.rice%40LOUISIANA.EDU%7Cee5e0ee6da0a4d36d61308de82a09b86%7C13b3b0cecd7549a4bfea0a03b01ff1ab%7C1%7C0%7C639091823485470202%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=do4mTgST4SgH12%2Bg75LrgbAuyU6n2C3duYwQtLk43dg%3D&reserved=0+(M.D.)%22&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjQ9dXpiaKTAxXBkyYFHQCSMDkQ9Ah6BAgJEAY<https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=0c91811187e59922&udm=36&tbs=cdr:1,cd_min:Jan+1_2+1616,cd_max:Dec+31_2+1697&sxsrf=ANbL-n4btgcVwor4hS_6iHfXVcpFAsSNfw:1773583612612&udm=36&q=inauthor:%22William+COCKBURN>>
·
1696
Found inside – Page 24
... Burgoo . Burgoo ) which of it self is very fit to correct that
thickness of the humours and costiveness , that are the unavoid- able
consequences of the abovemen- tion'd diet join'd with the least idle- ness
: for Oats being of a thin ...
Stephen

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