Re: turnip as a timepiece


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Posted by Adam Quinan on August 21, 2003 at 10:08:48 from 66.185.85.76 user Adam.

In Reply to: turnip as a timepiece posted by Ed Kiser on August 21, 2003 at 02:41:28:

From the long OED posting above:

b. Slang term for an old-fashioned thick silver watch.

1853
1840 1903

1840 E. FITZGERALD Lett. (1889) I. 59 An old turnip of a watch..on the table beside her. 1853 ‘C. BEDE’ Verdant Green I. vi, His mechanical turnip showed him that he had no time to lose. 1903 A. ADAMS Log Cowboy xv. 234 My turnip says it's eight o'clock now.


I suspect that it is because the bulky old fashioned watch mechanism made the watch look about the size of a turnip and almost as round.



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