banter - From Ulster to America
Source: From Ulster to America: The Scotch-Irish Heritage of American English
Author: Michael Montgomery
Comments: From Ulster to America recounts the lasting impact eighteenth-century settlers from Ulster have made on the development of the English language of the United States. The book documents over 500 vocabulary items contributed to American English by these ‘Scotch-Irish’ settlers. Each ‘shared’ term with its meaning is authenticated by quotations from both sides of the Atlantic. This searchable online version of his book takes its text from the dictionary part of the second edition published by the Ullans Press in 2017.
banter vb, n [origin obscure; oed banter vb 6 ‘to challenge’; cf snd banter vb ‘rebuke, scold, drive away by scolding’ 1820→; dare banter vb 2 ‘to challenge, dare; goad’ chiefly South, Midland] (Note: the senses ‘light conversation’ and ‘to engage in light conversation’ are standard.)
1 vb To dare, taunt, challenge to fight.
Ulst.:
1880 Patterson Antrim/Down Glossary 5 = to taunt a person to fight: ‘He bantered me to fight him’.
1920 Doyle Ballygullion 127 He was afeard I might banther him into buyin’ betther.
1953 Traynor Donegal Glossary 14 I’ll banter ye to a fight.
1991 O’Kane You Don’t Say 6 = to challenge to fisticuffs. Often the one doing the bantering has no wish for the challenge to be taken up, and usually picks for his target a placid type of man on whom to unleash a mixture of bluster and vicious threats. Occasionally, though, the bantering exceeds the limits and is rewarded with a richly deserved thrashing.
2014 Fenton Hamely Tongue 12 = challenge to fight: ‘[I] bantered him up an doon, but he wudnae shape’.
U.S.:
1855 Pawpaw Hollow Minutes 161 Arming himself with a revolver and bantering and dunning his brother to go into a fight with him.
1859 Bartlett Americanisms 21 = to challenge, defy; namely, to a race, a shooting-match, etc.
1899 Green Virginia Word-Book 51 = to challenge to a contest: ‘He bantered him to a contest’.
1974 Fink Bits Mt Speech 2 John bantered him for a race.
2 n A challenge, taunting.
Ulst.:
1948 Marshall Planted by River 119 He had to swallow a full measure of banter and jibe from his betters as they strolled past him to begin another row.
U.S.:
1834 Crockett Narrative 57 But I couldn’t help thinking, that she intended what she had said as a banter for me to court her!
1872 Schele de Vere Americanisms 439 = in the West, means not merely to joke and jest good-humoredly, but also to challenge to a match, and to provoke a wager: ‘We had a fine banter, but the match was postponed till spring’.
