XPost: alt.usage.english, alt.english.usage   
   From: peter@pmoylan.org   
      
   On 26/08/25 14:42, Steve Hayes wrote:   
   > Another example of something we have discussed here before, This   
   > from the "Carlisle Patriot", 09 Jul 1825   
   >   
   >   
   > On 25 Aug 2025 at 16:46, petra.mitchinson--- via list-cumbria wrote:   
   >   
   >> The last case, was on Monday evening, when he inveigled an   
   >> interesting little creature under the dry arch of Eden-Bridge.   
   >   
   > A language question: what does "interesting" mean in this context?   
   >   
   > It seems to have been quite common for 19th-century newspapers to   
   > speak of "interesting children" or "an interesting child", but I   
   > wonder what it meant?   
      
   I have always had the impression that "interesting children" were   
   disabled in some way, but I can't find any evidence of that.   
      
   The meaning must have been clear to 19th-century readers. It's strange   
   that the meaning, whatever it was, doesn't seem to have been documented   
   anywhere. Clearly the meaning was so obvious that nobody felt any need   
   to explain it.   
      
   --   
   Peter Moylan       peter@pmoylan.org    http://www.pmoylan.org   
   Newcastle, NSW   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)