[lit-ideas] Re: Shrimp
- From: Robert Paul <robert.paul@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 13 May 2005 11:08:36 -0700
Julie wrote, re hornswoggled (note that it's apparently one word):
> I wouldn't know, as I only ever heard my Mother speak the saying .... I've
> always wondered where she got it and what it meant or where it came from
> ....where is JL, indeed? What is horn-swoggling? Why is it a "nicety" for
> "damned"?
I don't think it is a euphemism for 'damned.' It means to cheat,
deceive, hoodwink, etc., although its first-person use does suggest
that sometimes it's used as if it were such a euphemism. (Take that,
Wittgenstein!)
OED:
hornswoggle ('hO:rnswog(&schwa.)l), v. colloq. (orig. U.S.). [Prob.
fanciful.]
trans. To get the better of; to cheat or swindle; to hoodwink, humbug,
bamboozle.
'1904 Boston Herald 27 June 6 One practical working theory in
advertising circles is that the ad's chief function is to hornswoggle
the consumer. 1911 H. QUICK Yellowstone Nights iii. 82 If you'll stand
by..and see your old father hornswoggled out of his eye-teeth you'll
never see a cent of my money. 1958 Spectator 11 Apr. 448/3, I am sure
the manufacturers hornswoggle us and sell us a lot of useless trim and
gadgets. 1968 Guardian 28 Feb. 18/8 In this wretched week we get a
report from the Government Actuary which is quoted to hornswoggle us
into increased insurance contributions. 1970 Sunday Times 28 June 11/3
The Americans look for value; you can't..hornswoggle them.'
I hope that Himalayan shrimp are not related to Rocky Mountain oysters.
Robert Paul
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