MDMD(2): Notes and Questions

[ckaratnytsky at nypl.org]

Regarding butter-bags, Chris politely inqires:

> May I ask the origin of the term?  Ain't in
>     the shorter OED I have handy.

Try _Slang and Euphemism_ by Richard A. Spears, Jonathan David Pub., Inc.,
1981.  Spears, professor of linguistics at Northwestern, has the following
entry (p. 58):

butter-bags
the human breasts.  Cf. BUTTER-BOXES [British slang, 1800s, Farmer and Henley]

Interestingly, however, the definition for butterbox, is as follows:

butterbox (also butterbag)
a derogatory term for a Dutchman [slang, 1600s - 1900s]  Synonyms:
BUTTER-MOUTH, CABBAGEHEAD, CHEESE-EATER, FROGLANDER, NIC FROG, OFFAL-EATER.

So, it seems that Pynch could be using the term both ways, if we are
willing to grant that the term in the first sense might have been around
several decades before the 1800s.

Now, Chris, you were going to tell us what you call 'em.....?

--Jimmy
  http://www.angelfire.com/oh/Insouciance/