End of ADS-L Digest - 30 Apr 1998 to 1 May 1998
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<br>From: Automatic digest processor (5/1/98)
<br>To: Recipients of ADS-L digests
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<br>         ADS-L Digest - 29 Apr 1998 to 30 Apr 1998             98-05-01 00:00:20
<br>There are 10 messages totalling 456 lines in this issue.
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<br>Topics of the day:
<br>
<br>  1. table-bussing (4)
<br>  2. Paralegal (Shapiro, 1970) (2)
<br>  3. Business terms (from FORBES, 1925)
<br>  4. Ellen Johnson's address
<br>  5. Hello (1848!?)
<br>  6. thole story, etc.
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<br>Date:    Thu, 30 Apr 1998 15:03:11 GMT+1000
<br>From:    David Blair <dblair[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]PIP.ELM.MQ.EDU.AU>
<br>Subject: table-bussing
<br>
<br>Dining-room staff in such establishments as McDonalds, I'm assured,
<br>do a lot of table-bussing.  That is, they clear and wipe clean the
<br>tables.
<br>
<br>I'm also assured that this is a recent import into Australian English
<br>from American English.  I had imagined that it was a development of
<br>buss = "kiss", until my colleague Bill Greaves (who's Canadian)
<br>told me about bus-boys.  And the OED gives:
<br>
<br>Bus-boy:  see Omnibus
<br>4. A man or boy who assists a waiter at an hotel, restaurant, etc.
<br>
<br>1888 Star 11 Aug. 4/5 To pay to what is known in a restaurant as an
<br>`omnibus', i.e. a lad that clears the tables.
<br>1897 Daily News 19 June 2/6 Omnibuses..apprentices- who wait on the
<br>waiters.
<br>
<br>Is anyone familiar with the use of "bus" as a simple verb or in such
<br>compounds as "table-bussing"?  My inadequate selection of American
<br>dictionaries has revealed nothing as yet.
<br>
<br>
<br>David Blair
<br>Head of School
<br>English, Linguistics & Media
<br>MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY  NSW  2109  AUSTRALIA
<br>Phone:  02 9850 8736    Fax:    02 9850 6900
<br>