Date:  Fri, 27 May 1994 16:43:53 -0700

From:  Rudy Troike <RTROIKE[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ARIZVMS.BITNET>

Subject: Earliest reference to "Mooning"



From:  UACCIT::SEISNER   "Sigmund Eisner" 14-MAY-1994 11:22

To:   RTROIKE

CC:   SEISNER

Subj:  And what do you make of this one?



From: Kathleen Kelly <kakelly[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]LYNX.DAC.NEU.EDU>

Subject: RE: "Piled," monkeys, baboons, etc.

Sender: Chaucer Discussion Group <CHAUCER%UICVM.BITNET[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ARIZVM1.ccit.arizona.edu>

To: Multiple recipients of list CHAUCER

 <CHAUCER%UICVM.BITNET[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ARIZVM1.ccit.arizona.edu>



>

> To follow up with respect to the baldness of simian rear ends:

>

> One of my favorite passages in all of Chaucer occurs in the Parson's Tale

> De superbia concerning the superfluity of clothing and scantness of

> clothing:

>

>     Allas, somme of hem shewen the boce of hir shape and the horrible

>     swollen membres that semeth lik the maladie of hirnia, in the

>     wrappynge of hir hoses, / and eek the buttokes of hem faren as it

>     were the hyndre part of a she-ape in the fulle of the mone.

>     (X 423-24)

>

yes, one of my favorites, too--so I'll ask a question I asked several

months ago--what *is* the earliest attested use of the verb "to

moon"--wouldn't it be too wonderful if this sophomoric in-your-face

(excuse me) activity was related to ancient and medieval ape lore?

Kathleen Kelly



Rudy, what do you or your group make of this one? What is the earliest

usage of the current verb "to moon"? I learned it in my old age, but it

may well have been around for a while.

                Sig