assay – to commence; to try it. Possibly derived from the phrase “to take the assay or essay,†i.e., to taste wine to prove that it is not poisoned. It may have been brought into use by counterfeit coiners. Image by Greg_e via Flickr Sources Barrère, Albert and Charles G. Leland. A Dictionary of Slang, […]
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Anthony Vaver has broad expertise in the social and cultural history of crime and punishment and is the author of the Amazon.com bestselling books, Bound with an Iron Chain and Early American Criminals. He holds a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and an M.L.S. from Rutgers University. He has never spent a night in jail, but he was once falsely accused of shoplifting.
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