I just looked this up while I was goofing off:
deadline--1864--a line drawn within or around a prison that a prisoner passes at the risk of being shot.
From Merriam-Webster's 11 collegiate dictoriany.
I imagine, given the date, that the word came about during the Civil War. Here's a picture from Andersonville in Georgia.
Anyone else know of words with interesting 19th century origins?
Gives a whole new meaning, doesn't it. I wonder why it changed.
ReplyDeleteLoose Women.
ReplyDeleteThose chicks who did not bother with corsets...