On Thu, 10 Aug 2006 18:40:23 -0400, ishmale > wrote:

> A hen is not a cock.
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>(must be a city man...)
Who me or Francis Grose?
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>Robert Klute wrote:
>
>>
>> Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, by Francis Grose (1731-1791)
>> First published in 1785, reprinted in 1811. This is from the 1811
>> edition (courtesy of Project Gutenberg)
>>
>> SPATCH COCK. [Abbreviation of DISPATCH COCK.] A hen just
>> killed from the roost, or yard, and immediately skinned,
>> split, and broiled: an Irish dish upon any sudden occasion.