Ragout

Guy Barry

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May 20, 2015, 4:25:30 PM5/20/15

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From the current edition of the British satirical magazine "Private Eye":

"The day after the [election] result, the _Mail_ devoted half of page 5 to
boasting how influential it had been, complete with ragouts of its
SNP/Labour-bashing headlines during the campaign."

I am unable to find a definition of "ragout" other than "a well-seasoned
meat or fish stew, usually with vegetables". Any idea what was meant?

--
Guy Barry

musika

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May 20, 2015, 4:45:43 PM5/20/15

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I would spell it rag out but times change.
As I understand it, it means inserting a picture (the headlines in this
case) as if it had been torn from a newspaper.

--
Ray
UK

Guy Barry

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May 20, 2015, 4:56:43 PM5/20/15

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"musika" wrote in message news:mjirng$698$1...@dont-email.me...

Oh - that spelling's highly misleading then. I googled for "rag out" (with
a space) but still got hits for "ragout" (the stew). Even putting quote
marks round "rag out" I can only find the definition "to dress up" (US
regional, slang). Is it internal journalistic jargon?

--
Guy Barry

musika

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May 20, 2015, 5:22:33 PM5/20/15

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I would think so. It appears in /A Dictionary of Journalism/

Scroll down on this page:
<https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0N-rBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA259&dq=rag-out+journalism>

Spelt there as rag-out.
--
Ray
UK

musika

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May 20, 2015, 5:28:02 PM5/20/15

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Tinyurl has started working for me again.
<http://tinyurl.com/omyhl5k>

--
Ray
UK

snide...@gmail.com

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May 20, 2015, 6:01:53 PM5/20/15

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The original earl wasn't particularly untinned.

/dps

Dr. HotSalt

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May 20, 2015, 7:22:48 PM5/20/15

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On Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 2:28:02 PM UTC-7, musika wrote:

Well, it doesn't help me. Apparently I've reached my viewing limit for that despite the fact that I've only ever tried to access it once, just a few minutes ago. Hence my viewing limit was zero instances.

Is it another Google glitch? Can it decide to assign negative viewing limits? If I access something I've read once but it now has a viewing limit of -1, will I forget the content?

Dr. HotSalt

snide...@gmail.com

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May 20, 2015, 7:49:57 PM5/20/15

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No problem for me with either the earl or his tin.

The top of the page is apparently about radical papers in the mid-19th C,
moving down the page to about the fourth entry gives rag-out.

Have you been browsing other entries on Google Books, or did you just decide
to access the item at the wrong time?

/dps

Peter Duncanson [BrE]

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May 20, 2015, 8:47:45 PM5/20/15

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It may simply be a figurative use of ragout meaning a mixture, or a
stew, of bits and pieces.

OED:

1.b. fig. and in extended use. A varied or piquant mixture.

--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

Peter Moylan

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May 20, 2015, 10:00:07 PM5/20/15

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I too was told that I couldn't look at the page, but I noticed that the
preceding and following pages were available. After scrolling past a
couple of pages, and then scrolling back, I was allowed to see the
"rag-out" entry.

I forgot to check whether "ghoul-ash" was also in the book.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Athel Cornish-Bowden

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May 21, 2015, 1:28:52 AM5/21/15

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Or from a rag, in this case.

--
athel

Guy Barry

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May 21, 2015, 3:49:02 AM5/21/15

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"Peter Duncanson [BrE]" wrote in message
news:2gaqladjhrpoc6hd7...@4ax.com...

I don't think so. The two terms are obviously completely separate - one
from French and the other from the English words "rag" and "out".

It reminds me of a piece in "The King's English" about the spelling
"dugout", which the Fowler brothers claimed was in danger of being taken for
a foreign word and pronounced in strange ways.

--
Guy Barry

Peter Duncanson [BrE]

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May 21, 2015, 5:58:28 AM5/21/15

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On Wed, 20 May 2015 22:22:23 +0100, musika <mUs...@NOSPAMexcite.com>
wrote:

Interesting.

I wonder whether it comes from "rag", a colloquial term for a newspaper?

OED:

7.
a. colloq. A newspaper or magazine, esp. one regarded as inferior or
worthless.
[1645 Mercurius Britanicus No. 100. 889 Not an Aulicus, nor a
Declaration, nor a Proclamation, nor a tel-tale Epistle, nor so
much as a Royall ragge of Intelligence or Slander to be met with.]
a1734 R. North Examen (1740) ii. v. §14 323 Would any one expect
in Print, upon tolerable Paper, and a clear Character, such Malice
and Knavery as lies here, scarce fit for Midnight Grubstreet Rags.
....
1889 Spectator 23 Nov. 712/1 Every rubbishy rag now contains the
‘news’.
1927 Amer. Mercury Feb. p. xl, This rag never chucks slang in
this here editorial colyum, where we wise-crack in schmoos as
legit as the three-shell racket.
....
2005 Word Feb. 47/1 Did you know that your competitors are
paying sales reps to go round taking your magazine off display and
replacing it with their inferior rags?

Robert Bannister

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May 21, 2015, 8:17:21 PM5/21/15

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I had the same result. Was it the person who supplied us with the link
who had overstepped his limit perhaps?
--
Robert Bannister - 1940-71 SE England
1972-now W Australia

Robert Bannister

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May 21, 2015, 8:18:57 PM5/21/15

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On 21/05/2015 3:49 pm, Guy Barry wrote:

> It reminds me of a piece in "The King's English" about the spelling
> "dugout", which the Fowler brothers claimed was in danger of being taken
> for a foreign word and pronounced in strange ways.
>

I'd never thought of that. I suppose "dugout" could be a question of taste.

Mark Brader

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May 21, 2015, 9:10:37 PM5/21/15

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Peter Moylan (referring to Google Books):

> I too was told that I couldn't look at the page, but I noticed that the
> preceding and following pages were available. After scrolling past a
> couple of pages, and then scrolling back, I was allowed to see the
> "rag-out" entry.

Changing the size can have a similar effect.
--
Mark Brader "You have a truly warped mind.
Toronto I admire that in a person."
m...@vex.net -- Bill Davidsen