Comments on: American Nicknames Part 1: Softies and Buckeye

By: Stephen Goranson

Stephen Goranson — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:25:53 +0000

I suppose the reference you seek is Celebration of the forty-fifth anniversary of the first settlement of Cincinnati and the Miami country on the 26th day of December, 1833 by natives of Ohio. Cincinnati : Shreve & Gallagher, 1834. 52 p. ; 22 cm. (And later reprints of Drake’s address.)

By: Stephen Goranson

Stephen Goranson — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:08:35 +0000

A brief look at Percy Fitzgerald’s Bozland, Dickens’ Places and People (London, 1895) suggests that the reference 9p. 149) appears in a letter supposedly from “J. Dowler” (p. 150) which is a hoax. But (p.150, after the letter) “Professor Skeat wrote no ‘thoughtful paper’ on the phrase,” followed by another fake reference denied.

By: Stephen Goranson

Stephen Goranson — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:59:33 +0000

A brief look at Percy Fitzgerald, Bozland, Dickens’ Places and Peopls (London, 1895) esp. pp. 149-51 suggests that this reference is a hoax in a letter supposedly from “J. Dowler.” Followed by p. 151: “Professor Skeat wrote no ‘thoughtful paper’ on the phrase; there is no ‘Doumolin’ [etc.]….”