Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Today's OED antedating: "to 'fess up"

'Fess up, slang, to confess; or, to exhort another to do so, ex "confess" ("fess, 'fess," v., first use cited 1930): Poem titled "Hymns of Hate," by pseudonymous "Chris," New York Tribune, October 31, 1919, p 10, col 5: "A lady that I'd like to mess up/Is she who warbles, 'Come now, 'fess up.'"