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Chewed out

Posted by ESC on February 07, 2004

In Reply to: Chewed out posted by ESC on February 05, 2004

: : where did the phrase "chewed my a** out" come from?

: I don't know. But I can tell you that one reference says it dates back to 1946 and originated in the U.S. ("Oxford Dictionary of Slang" by John Ayto (Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York, 1999)

: I'm going to guess that it refers to some drill sergeant who was chewing on a soldier like a dog chews on someone.

I've found an earlier date:

"chew out - v. Orig. Mil. To scold harshly. Also (vulgar) chew (someone's) a** out and other vars..1929 in Longstreet 'Canvas Falcons' 370 (ref. to 1917) H.Q. is chewing out my arse why we're not flying right now." From Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume 1, A-G by J.E. Lighter, Random House, New York, 1994. I googled the book mentioned in this definition and found "Canvas Falcons; the story of the men and the planes of World War I" by Stephen Longstreet.

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