In today's Telegraph Magazine, back page, in John
Morrish's column "Frantic Semantics" he refers to the
introduction into England of the use of 'to swipe' in
the american sense by RK.
"The theft aspect, though, is all-American. 'To
swipe', meaning to steal, is recorded first in 1889 in
a Seattle newspaper, still wrapped in the 'scare
quotes' that indicate unfamiliar terms. Rudyard
Kipling brought it to Britain in 1900 via the Daily
Mail."
I have found one use of the word in this sense by
Hurree in 'Kim' p398 of MacMillan 1901 edition - 'This
is fine! This is finest! Mister O'Hara! you have - ha!
ha! swiped the whole bag of tricks - locks, stocks,
and barrels. They told me it was eight months' work
gone up the spouts! By Jove, how they beat me!'.
However, I suspect that Morrish is referring to a
poem, not Kim, and have not be able to track this one
down. I don't think it can be a reference to 'swipes'
as used in "Follow Me 'Ome" collected in "The Seven
Seas" in 1896.
Any ideas?
With best regards
David Page
Harrow UK
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