I am now to shy well shatttered to talk about g****b***y bushes
Shy P
Actually truth is I only know them as the G_____ bushes
-----Original Message-----
From: Poetryetc provides a venue for a dialogue relating to poetry and
poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Joanna Boulter
Sent: 18 August 2005 11:52
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Gooseberries (was Re: snapshot~ 17august 05 correction)
Well, Patrick, what varieties do you grow?
I favour 'Careless', myself.
joanna
----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick McManus" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 8:24 AM
Subject: Re: Gooseberries (was Re: snapshot~ 17august 05 correction)
>I love all this under the gooseberry bush -will never be the same-I only
> knew about the fruiting version -one learns
> My 1811 dictionary says of goose - ataylor's goose a soothing iron -a
> bashfull or sheepish fellow (like me) cannot say boh to a goose!
>
> Isn't there a Bush in USA ??
> What about the bulldozers they are not pubic ??
> Manga P
>
>
>>
>> 'Gooseberry bush' is said to be a euphemism for bush (= pubic hair), but
>> I
>> lack a proper citation (Grose, for example, has nothing) and without one
>> I
>> am sceptical.
>> CW
>
> Jonathon Green, +The Cassell Dictionary of Slang+, has:
>
> gooseberry bush: n1 [19C] the pubic hair (cf. BEAUTY SPOT n3). [ext. of
> BUSH n4: it is this bush, of course, rather than the fruiting variety,
> beneath which a child is allegedly born]
>
> JG doesn't do cites, but that [19C] sounds pretty definite, and I've
> usually
> found him trustworthy.
>
> Odd that it's not in Beale/Patridge. Roll on the 4 volume revision.
>
>> (who has recently wasted an inordinate amount of time trying to trace the
>> origin of 'bulldozer')
>
> More on this tomorrow (or rather, later today), though I doubt if I've
> found
> anything that Christopher and Judy won't already know. If that.
>
> Robin
>
|