fool - 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.
fool adj Foolish, silly. [oed fool B ‘foolish’ 1225→; dost fule/fuil adj ‘foolish’ 1400→; dare fool adj formerly widespread, now especially South, South Midland]
Ulst.:
1885 Lyttle Robin Gordon 31 A forgot a’ aboot Sally Kirk an’ her fool talk.
1903 MacManus Lad of O’Friels 221 It’s only fool questions without rhyme or raison he puts on me.
1930 McCurry Ulster Village 201 If ye asked him a question he wud give ye a fool answer, an’ mebby commence writin’ in the middle of it.
1932 Quinn McConaghy’s Money 31 Ye wur never married yerself Rosie, an’ had no trouble of yer own—that’s why you go in for such fool nonsense.
2014 Fenton Hamely Tongue 92 = foolish: ‘a fool eedyit’; ‘a fool thing tae dae’.
U.S.:
1854 Holmes Tempest and Sunshine 12 Tempest … can hardly wait till I’m dead till she spends money in fool fixin’s.
1935 Enslow Schoolhouse 78 What sorter fool notion is that, Sammy?
1953 Hall Coll The horse give out. We lifted the horse over the log—four or five of us. We carried that fool horse up the mountain.
1977 Hamilton Mt Memories 14 Aunt Lela caught me by the arm and led me outside and said, ‘Don’t ask your Mama any more fool questions’.
