Date:  Wed, 20 Mar 1996 13:53:48 -0500

From:  Jesse T Sheidlower <jester[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]PANIX.COM>

Subject: Re: see the elephant



>

>   Sorry to chime in so late on this topic and my apologies if someone

>   has already noted that an article on the phrase "to see the elephant"

>   appeared in The Pacific Historian, volume 12, no. 1, Winter 1968,

>   pages 23-29. One of the key sources in the article is Barrere and

>   Leland, A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon and Cant.



I hadn't even been aware that there had been a discussion of

this topic, but there is a very extensive entry on this phrase

in the RH Historical Dict. of American Slang s.v. elephant.



An interesting and much earlier parallel which I only encountered

recently is _see the lions,_ in OED2 from 1590.



Jesse Sheidlower

<jester[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]panix.com>