Re: Glenn Gould: The New Listener

[Leslie Jones <l.jones2@rca.ac.uk>]

Just had to say in response to Katherine's:

>And a bit of a digression ... thank you for the responses to my query re:
>"nobbling" ... I've located the word in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary,
>just lines after "nob", "no-bake" and "no-ball" ... and now know that it's
>"British slang" for 1. tampering with (a racehorse) to prevent its winning;
>2. getting hold of (money, etc.) dishonestly; 3. catching (a criminal); 4.
>securing the support of or weakening (a person) esp. by underhand means; 5.
>seizing, grabbing.  Here on the West Coast of Canada, some of us have lost
>touch with our colonial cultural history ... but as Glenn Gould was of
>Anglo descent, I'm sure he would have known the meaning of the term "to
>nobble" (had to tie the GG thread in here somewhere...)

In 45 years of speaking and hearing "British slang" I've never heard
'nobbled' used to mean
2, 3 or 5 above. It means 1 or 4 but always with a connotation of unfair
play or using force, threats or pressure, or lying to prevent someone
acheiving something.

Why is the list so quiet?

LJ