Now here's a slang word that takes up a whole page-plus in Green's Dictionary of Slang. I'm not going to go through all the possible interpretations (!!) except to talk about a couple that hail from the 19th century...
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deadbeat n.
1. a state of exhaustion
From Tom and Jerry: Musical Extravaganza (1822) "Bill, what are you stopping at? What! Have I brought you all to a dead beat?"
2. of things, a failure, a deception.
From G. P. Burnham's Memoirs of the US Secret Service (1872) [of a ten-dollar note] "It's a counterfeit," said Rugg quietly [...] "A 'dead-beat,' old fellow. Not worth a penny."
....and from the last entry...
deadbeat v.
1. to waste time, to idle around (1905)
2. to sponge on (1880)
3. to cheat (1881)
... Other definitions include: one who reneges on their debts; a form of alcohol (! from 1877); a wastrel; absolutely defeated...
Whew! I'm dead beat. I'll leave it at that.
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| ... More than a few "deadbeats" pictured here! (A Midnight Modern Conversation, by William Hogarth [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons) |
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2 comments:
My first Sue Grafton read, later by years, was D Is for Deadbeat.
Ah yes! I read that one too! A loooooong time ago. I started with "A" and worked my way up... then fell off the alphabet, and read her last one. Maybe I'll start from there and work backwards now... ;-)
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