Talk:dateless

etymology of dateless

This term is under discussion also at WT:RFV#dateless. There may be a use of the word in northern UK meaning thick-headed. There is an attestable use in the same area meaning recorded in the 19th century meaning something like "mentally deranged" ("dotty"?). I have entered a possible etymology, whose source I neglected to insert. Can someone familiar with the differential evolution of words in the north vs south of UK take a look? Is it possible that the term deedless is connected to this? DCDuring TALK 21:03, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

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dateless

rfv-sense: thick-headed uk slang. Confirmation? DCDuring TALK 11:49, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

It's not one I've heard, but a bgc search for dateless stupid (no quotes) brings up plenty of mentions in publications about various English dialects in places as geographically spaced as Cornwall, Huddersfield and Sussex. One gives a plausible origin of the term as being so stupid as to be unaware of the passing time. I've only spent a few minutes looking, using a few different search terms, but I only found one possible use - I couldn't check that as the snippet view didn't actually contain the relevant portion of text. I wouldn't write it off yet though. Thryduulf 12:31, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm not in any rush to have it removed. It seemed plausible. I thought it might be colloquial and widespread in UK. It would be nice if it had some citations illustrating usage. DCDuring TALK 15:36, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

I added another cite (usenet) to the citations page, bringing the count up to two. I think it is apparent that there is usage but durable citations are tough both because of the relatively small number of dialect speakers and the high usage of the other senses. Personally I think this one is a pass but strictly it is a fail. - [The]DaveRoss 15:27, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

I have split the term out according to its apparent etymology. It seems to have some Scandanavian cognates and ancestors. It also seems related to deedless. O'Toole was raised in the Danelaw. I'd say we should keep it, though more evidence would be nice. DCDuring TALK 21:08, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

I'd hate to lose it, but I guess we could just move what we know to the citations namespace....​—msh210℠ 21:13, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

Give me another 24 hours. DCDuring TALK 23:35, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

I've brought the etymology to WT:ES including the relationship to deedless. I'm not sure what a definition for "dateless" would be based solely on the O'Toole quote. DCDuring TALK 14:02, 6 July 2009 (UTC)