Book = move quickly
Lars Eighner
"booking along at 26 miles per hour" (at which speed it is unlikely
to develop well-defined cyclonic winds).
I am old enough to know that "book" here means move along quickly
(although where the newsreader go this, I don't know - she couldn't
be that old).
My best guess is this is an alteration of "boogie." Does anyone
know better?
--
Lars Eighner eig...@io.com http://www.io.com/~eighner/
Nothing is more humiliating than to see idiots succeed in enterprises
we have failed in. --Flaubert
Benjamin Lukoff
>
> The newsreader on CNN just describe the current Atlantic storm as
> "booking along at 26 miles per hour" (at which speed it is unlikely
> to develop well-defined cyclonic winds).
>
> I am old enough to know that "book" here means move along quickly
> (although where the newsreader go this, I don't know - she couldn't
> be that old).
How old do you have to be to know this meaning of "book"? I'm 26 and I
know it.
Jitze Couperus
<l=u=k=o_b_e_@y+a+h-o-o-.-c=o=m> wrote:
>Lars Eighner wrote:
>>
>> The newsreader on CNN just describe the current Atlantic storm as
>> "booking along at 26 miles per hour" (at which speed it is unlikely
>> to develop well-defined cyclonic winds).
>>
>> I am old enough to know that "book" here means move along quickly
>> (although where the newsreader go this, I don't know - she couldn't
>> be that old).
>
>How old do you have to be to know this meaning of "book"? I'm 26 and I
>know it.
>
I am in my sixth decade of speaking English, - and I've never
heard of "book" being used as "move along quickly".
Confirms what I allus suspected - I is illiterate.
Jitze
P&DSchultz
>
> The newsreader on CNN just describe the current Atlantic storm as
> "booking along at 26 miles per hour" (at which speed it is unlikely
> to develop well-defined cyclonic winds).
>
> I am old enough to know that "book" here means move along quickly
> (although where the newsreader go this, I don't know - she couldn't
> be that old).
>
> My best guess is this is an alteration of "boogie." Does anyone
> know better?
I don't know where it came from, but to me it has no feeling of being
related to any meaning of "boogie". In the late 60s, among those out
with whom I hung, it meant to high-tail it from wherever you were. To
leave abruptly.
\\P. Schultz
Skitt
"P&DSchultz" <schu...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:3B7E0152...@erols.com...
"To leave abruptly" is exactly the meaning I have known for "book" when I
was still young.
--
Skitt (in SF Bay Area) http://www.geocities.com/opus731/
I speak English well -- I learn it from a book!
-- Manuel of "Fawlty Towers" (he's from Barcelona).
Joe Manfre
> "To leave abruptly" is exactly the meaning I have known for "book"
> when I was still young.
That's what this sense of "book" meant the first time I heard it
(sometime in the mid-'80s, when I was maybe 10 years old) but more
recently I've noticed the meaning being extended into "run" or "move
fast".
JM
--
Joe Manfre, Hyattsville, Maryland.
GrapeApe
>I
>was still young.
I think last time I saw the "Booking" discussion in AUE, there was a split over
whether it could be attributed to an object already in motion. "Did you see
that car pass by? It was really booking!"
I never thought it had any relation to "boogie", but my internal folk
etymolgies thought it could be related to "makling the record books" or book as
a verb possibly meaning the recording of measurements as into a book or record.
"See this baby? She books 140 mph...." (used here similarly to 'clock')
Oddly, the only verb form of "book" in AOLs version of the Merriam-Webster, is
a bit of Canadian slang about calling in sick to work. I think I'm going to
stick to using the web version much more often, although it requires more
keystrokes to get there....
Skitt
"Joe Manfre" <man...@flash.net> wrote in message
news:9lmer0$9q6p6$1...@ID-81441.news.dfncis.de...
> Skitt (sk...@earthlink.net) wrote:
>
> > "To leave abruptly" is exactly the meaning I have known for "book"
> > when I was still young.
>
> That's what this sense of "book" meant the first time I heard it
> (sometime in the mid-'80s, when I was maybe 10 years old) but more
> recently I've noticed the meaning being extended into "run" or "move
> fast".
I just found in
http://tlc.discovery.com/convergence/70s/glossary/glossary.html
Book - To go, leave a place. "Let's book out of here!"
Brian Cubbison
In article <9lmfhc$9ntk0$1...@ID-61580.news.dfncis.de>, "Skitt"
<sk...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> "Joe Manfre" <man...@flash.net> wrote in message
> news:9lmer0$9q6p6$1...@ID-81441.news.dfncis.de...
>> Skitt (sk...@earthlink.net) wrote:
>>
>> > "To leave abruptly" is exactly the meaning I have known for "book"
>> > when I was still young.
>>
>> That's what this sense of "book" meant the first time I heard it
>> (sometime in the mid-'80s, when I was maybe 10 years old) but more
>> recently I've noticed the meaning being extended into "run" or "move
>> fast".
>
> I just found in
> http://tlc.discovery.com/convergence/70s/glossary/glossary.html
>
> Book - To go, leave a place. "Let's book out of here!"
My humble, unsupported suggestion is that "Let's book," as in "let's get out
of here," might come from "let's book a flight."
Brian Cubbison
Syracuse, NY
Anatoly Vorobey
>Skitt (sk...@earthlink.net) wrote:
>
>> "To leave abruptly" is exactly the meaning I have known for "book"
>> when I was still young.
>
>That's what this sense of "book" meant the first time I heard it
>(sometime in the mid-'80s, when I was maybe 10 years old) but more
>recently I've noticed the meaning being extended into "run" or "move
>fast".
I can't find any of these meanings in either M-W Collegiate on the Web or
my M-W Third International.
I'm frustrated, crushed and heartbroken. It *should* be there, shouldn't it?
Or is it supposed to be slang unworthy of being recorded in a general
dictionary?
--
Anatoly Vorobey,
mel...@pobox.com http://pobox.com/~mellon/
"Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly" - G.K.Chesterton
John O'Flaherty
I agree. Or, 'let's book passage'.
--
john
Skitt
"Anatoly Vorobey" <mel...@pobox.com> wrote in message
news:slrn9nv10m....@sasami.jurai.net...
> On 18 Aug 2001 19:14:41 GMT,
> Joe Manfre <man...@flash.net> wrote:
> >Skitt (sk...@earthlink.net) wrote:
> >
> >> "To leave abruptly" is exactly the meaning I have known for "book"
> >> when I was still young.
> >
> >That's what this sense of "book" meant the first time I heard it
> >(sometime in the mid-'80s, when I was maybe 10 years old) but more
> >recently I've noticed the meaning being extended into "run" or "move
> >fast".
>
> I can't find any of these meanings in either M-W Collegiate on the Web or
> my M-W Third International.
>
> I'm frustrated, crushed and heartbroken. It *should* be there, shouldn't
it?
> Or is it supposed to be slang unworthy of being recorded in a general
> dictionary?
Don't be frustrated. I don't think that anyone uses it nowadays. It has
quietly faded into oblivion. It is gone. Ceased to be.
Aaron Davies
> "Anatoly Vorobey" <mel...@pobox.com> wrote in message
> news:slrn9nv10m....@sasami.jurai.net...
> > On 18 Aug 2001 19:14:41 GMT,
> > Joe Manfre <man...@flash.net> wrote:
> > >Skitt (sk...@earthlink.net) wrote:
> > >
> > >> "To leave abruptly" is exactly the meaning I have known for "book"
> > >> when I was still young.
> > >
> > >That's what this sense of "book" meant the first time I heard it
> > >(sometime in the mid-'80s, when I was maybe 10 years old) but more
> > >recently I've noticed the meaning being extended into "run" or "move
> > >fast".
> >
> > I can't find any of these meanings in either M-W Collegiate on the Web or
> > my M-W Third International.
> >
> > I'm frustrated, crushed and heartbroken. It *should* be there, shouldn't
> it?
> > Or is it supposed to be slang unworthy of being recorded in a general
> > dictionary?
>
> Don't be frustrated. I don't think that anyone uses it nowadays. It has
> quietly faded into oblivion. It is gone. Ceased to be.
As I once read somewhere, "It's gone from lingo into limbo."
--
__ __
/ ) / )
/--/ __. __ ______ / / __. , __o _ _
/ (_(_/|_/ (_(_) / <_ /__/_(_/|_\/ <__</_/_)_
Frances Kemmish
>
> "Anatoly Vorobey" <mel...@pobox.com> wrote in message
> news:slrn9nv10m....@sasami.jurai.net...
> > On 18 Aug 2001 19:14:41 GMT,
> > Joe Manfre <man...@flash.net> wrote:
> > >Skitt (sk...@earthlink.net) wrote:
> > >
> > >> "To leave abruptly" is exactly the meaning I have known for "book"
> > >> when I was still young.
> > >
> > >That's what this sense of "book" meant the first time I heard it
> > >(sometime in the mid-'80s, when I was maybe 10 years old) but more
> > >recently I've noticed the meaning being extended into "run" or "move
> > >fast".
> >
> > I can't find any of these meanings in either M-W Collegiate on the Web or
> > my M-W Third International.
> >
> > I'm frustrated, crushed and heartbroken. It *should* be there, shouldn't
> it?
> > Or is it supposed to be slang unworthy of being recorded in a general
> > dictionary?
>
> Don't be frustrated. I don't think that anyone uses it nowadays. It has
> quietly faded into oblivion. It is gone. Ceased to be.
>
I wouldn't be frustrated about the fact that it doesn't appear in the
dictionary, but you should not assume that it is no longer in use. I
have a friend (from Western New York state), who uses "book" meaning
"to move quickly" all the time.
Fran
Skitt
"Frances Kemmish" <fkem...@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:3B805F96...@optonline.net...
> Skitt wrote:
> > Don't be frustrated. I don't think that anyone uses it nowadays. It
has
> > quietly faded into oblivion. It is gone. Ceased to be.
> >
>
> I wouldn't be frustrated about the fact that it doesn't appear in the
> dictionary, but you should not assume that it is no longer in use. I
> have a friend (from Western New York state), who uses "book" meaning
> "to move quickly" all the time.
Never grew up, did he/she? OK, no longer in use, except by a friend of
Frances in Western New York state. Better? ;-)
David McMurray
> >"To leave abruptly" is exactly the meaning I have known for "book" when
> >I was still young.
>
> I think last time I saw the "Booking" discussion in AUE, there was a split
> over whether it could be attributed to an object already in motion. "Did
> you see that car pass by? It was really booking!" [...]
>
> Oddly, the only verb form of "book" in AOLs version of the
> Merriam-Webster, is a bit of Canadian slang about calling in sick to work.
It's "book off", actually; I wouldn't call it slang.
[...]
--
David
GrapeApe
People often mistake slang to make it into their favorite dictionary, more
frequently it may be left out, because it is slang.
It is still used.
GrapeApe
>> Merriam-Webster, is a bit of Canadian slang about calling in sick to work.
>
>It's "book off", actually; I wouldn't call it slang.
In this particular circ, I think it refers to not being on the payroll book for
that day...
I still think the usage of book for "leaving quickly" is equally common for
merely "moving quickly"
But I would argue that all three (or two) of these versions of book as a verb
have to do with making a record of some sort, whether it is a travel itenerary,
a speed record, or a work record.
Ben Zimmer
Anatoly Vorobey wrote:
>
> On 18 Aug 2001 19:14:41 GMT,
> Joe Manfre <man...@flash.net> wrote:
> >Skitt (sk...@earthlink.net) wrote:
> >
> >> "To leave abruptly" is exactly the meaning I have known for "book"
> >> when I was still young.
> >
> >That's what this sense of "book" meant the first time I heard it
> >(sometime in the mid-'80s, when I was maybe 10 years old) but more
> >recently I've noticed the meaning being extended into "run" or "move
> >fast".
>
> I can't find any of these meanings in either M-W Collegiate on the Web or
> my M-W Third International.
>
> I'm frustrated, crushed and heartbroken. It *should* be there, shouldn't it?
> Or is it supposed to be slang unworthy of being recorded in a general
> dictionary?
Oddly, the only online dictionary of note that I've found it in is the
Bloomsbury Dictionary of Contemporary Slang:
----------
http://www.xrefer.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=337708&secid=.-
book vb American
to depart, leave. A fashionable term of the 1990s in black street usage
and also heard among white adolescents. A variety of euphemisms (like
its contemporaries bail, bill, jam and jet) for 'run away' are essential
to the argot of gang members and their playground imitators. The origin
of this usage is not certain; it may derive from an earlier phrase 'book
it', meaning that someone has to return home quickly in order to record
a transaction.
----------
--Ben
Mike Lyle
Surely we've all been in offices etc where you have to book in, or be
booked in, when you arrive and book out, or be booked out, when you
leave? Occam does it again.
Mike.
Richard Fontana
> Surely we've all been in offices etc where you have to book in, or be
> booked in, when you arrive and book out, or be booked out, when you
> leave?
Is that a UK equivalent of "clock in"?
M-W:
intransitive senses : to register on a time sheet or time clock : PUNCH --
used with in, out, on, off <he clocked in late>
Jack Gavin
news:9lp0b7$ad4fu$1...@ID-61580.news.dfncis.de...
>
> "Anatoly Vorobey" <mel...@pobox.com> wrote in message
> news:slrn9nv10m....@sasami.jurai.net...
> > On 18 Aug 2001 19:14:41 GMT,
> > Joe Manfre <man...@flash.net> wrote:
> > >Skitt (sk...@earthlink.net) wrote:
> > >
> > >> "To leave abruptly" is exactly the meaning I have known for "book"
> > >> when I was still young.
> > >
> > >That's what this sense of "book" meant the first time I heard it
> > >(sometime in the mid-'80s, when I was maybe 10 years old) but more
> > >recently I've noticed the meaning being extended into "run" or "move
> > >fast".
> >
> > I can't find any of these meanings in either M-W Collegiate on the Web
or
> > my M-W Third International.
> >
> > I'm frustrated, crushed and heartbroken. It *should* be there, shouldn't
> it?
> > Or is it supposed to be slang unworthy of being recorded in a general
> > dictionary?
>
> Don't be frustrated. I don't think that anyone uses it nowadays. It has
> quietly faded into oblivion. It is gone. Ceased to be.
Maybe it booked.
--
Jack Gavin
Gwen Lenker
It sounds more low-tech to me. I've been in buildings where I had to
"sign in" by hand-writing[1] my signature in an actual book, so that's
the image "book in" conjured in my mind.
In any case, it sounds far too Rightpondian to have been the source of
a Leftpondian slang expression.
[1] Initially, I wrote "hand writing" without a hyphen, but that "by"
kept trying to bite off the "hand."
John Lawler
>Skitt writes:
>>Anatoly Vorobey <mel...@pobox.com> writes:
>>>Joe Manfre <man...@flash.net> writes:
>>>>Skitt (sk...@earthlink.net) writes:
>> > >> "To leave abruptly" is exactly the meaning I have known for "book"
>> > >> when I was still young.
>> > >That's what this sense of "book" meant the first time I heard it
>> > >(sometime in the mid-'80s, when I was maybe 10 years old) but more
>> > >recently I've noticed the meaning being extended into "run" or "move
>> > >fast".
>> > I can't find any of these meanings in either M-W Collegiate on the Web or
>> > my M-W Third International.
>> > I'm frustrated, crushed and heartbroken. It *should* be there, shouldn't
>> > it? Or is it supposed to be slang unworthy of being recorded in a
>> > general dictionary?
>> Don't be frustrated. I don't think that anyone uses it nowadays. It has
>> quietly faded into oblivion. It is gone. Ceased to be.
>I wouldn't be frustrated about the fact that it doesn't appear in the
>dictionary, but you should not assume that it is no longer in use. I
>have a friend (from Western New York state), who uses "book" meaning
>"to move quickly" all the time.
That's what it apparently means to the upcoming college-age generation. It
came up in a class on lexical semantics I was teaching a couple of years
ago; we had a project to analyze the verbs of unaided human locomotion,
and all the students (born in the late 70s or early 80s) knew 'book' (I
didn't) and agreed that it meant to move rapidly. A short synopsis of the
motional sense of 'book' by one of them is available at
http://www.umich.edu/~jlawler/words/book.htm
No mention was ever made by any of the students of the sense of 'leave
abruptly'; just 'move rapidly'. A good example of semantic change.
-John Lawler http://www.umich.edu/~jlawler Michigan Linguistics Dept
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Because in our brief lives, we catch so little of the vastness of
history, we tend too much to think of language as being solid as a
dictionary, with granite-like permanence, rather than as the rampant
restless sea of metaphor that it is." -- Julian Jaynes
P&DSchultz
>
> Surely we've all been in offices etc where you have to book in, or be
> booked in, when you arrive and book out, or be booked out, when you
> leave? Occam does it again.
Occam is not commonly connected with the belabored and improbable.
"Book" comes out of a usage just the opposite of any conceivable mental
connection with "booking out" of an office (which I've never heard of,
anyway.)
\\P. Schultz
GrapeApe
>and also heard among white adolescents. A variety of euphemisms (like
>its contemporaries bail, bill, jam and jet) for 'run away' are essential
>to the argot of gang members and their playground imitators. The origin
>of this usage is not certain; it may derive from an earlier phrase 'book
>it', meaning that someone has to return home quickly in order to record
>a transaction.
Hmm, in my American usage history, it was common but not fashionable, and
rather common for a good fifteen years before the nineties.
GrapeApe
>
>No mention was ever made by any of the students of the sense of 'leave
>abruptly'; just 'move rapidly'. A good example of semantic change.
I diagree that there was necessarily a semantic change, rather a measuring
error, depending on the context the word was measured in.
I have been using it all my life, to mean "to LEAVE quickly" and "to MOVE
quickly", its meaning often gleaned from context, whether one was about to
book, or was watching someone else book (sometimes arriving, or merely in
transit)
Mike Lyle
> Mike Lyle wrote:
> >
> > Surely we've all been in offices etc where you have to book in, or be
> > booked in, when you arrive and book out, or be booked out, when you
> > leave? Occam does it again.
>
> Occam is not commonly connected with the belabored and improbable.
>
a razor would seem a bit Baroque, perhaps even Gothic.
I don't find it strenuously laboured to use a phrase meaning "leave"
to mean "leave"; but maybe you're even lazier than I am.
> "Book" comes out of a usage just the opposite of any conceivable mental
> connection with "booking out" of an office (which I've never heard of,
> anyway.)
Opposite? "Depart" is the opposite of "depart"? Sorry, you've left me
behind here. You must be familiar with "check out" in extended use to
cover various senses of "depart": the step to using the synonym "book
out" is a short one, even if the latter is a Right-pondism.
Having said that, I will comment that I'm familiar with the expression
"bug out" used for "depart hastily", which may be connected with "book
out" in such a way as to cast doubt on my hypothesis.
Mike.