XPost: alt.english.usage, alt.usage.english   
   From: HenHanna@devnull.tb   
      
   On 6/19/2024 5:14 PM, Steve Hayes wrote:   
   >  From the "Cumberland Paquet", Whitehaven  - February 23 - 1775.   
   >   
   > A few nights ago in a town not many miles distant from this, a company   
   > of people being in a public house, one of them was accusing another of   
   > ill-treatment, and in the course of his accusation frequently   
   > mentioned the word Usages: it was bad usage, vile usage, cruel usage,   
   > shocking usage; and almost every other usage that a good man would not   
   > use: A gentleman offered a bowl of punch to either the accuser or   
   > accused, that could spell that same word usage, with which they both   
   > appeared to be well acquainted. The offer was accepted, pen, ink and   
   > paper were produced, when the accuser exhibited the word usage by the   
   > following letters, viz, YOWZITCHE: the arbitrators assured him that it   
   > was not right; his competitor then took the paper, and after some   
   > deliberation, wrote under it YOWZITCH, The prize was awarded to him,   
   > as he gave the sound of the word as perfect as the other had done,   
   > without inserting a single letter agreeable to the Orthographical   
   > usage of the that word.   
   >   
   >   
      
   i don't get it.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)