Chris Croughton wrote:
> > usen't (colloquial shortening of use not)
> >
> > c1863 T. TAYLOR in M. R. Booth Eng. Plays of 19th Cent. (1969) II. 96,
> > I usen't to mind unkind looks and words much once. 1907 G. B. SHAW
> > Major Barbara III. 255 That is a new accomplishment of Andrew's, by the
> > way. He usent to drink. 1929 'H. H. RICHARDSON' Ultima Thule III.
>
> Is the apostrophe missing in the original?
Lemme check on that one, Chris...
Both the apostrophe and the space are missing in the Shaw citation on
the OED page. Bingo.
Now let's look around and find that particular comedy...voila!
http://www.online-literature.com/view.php/major_barbara
LADY BRITOMART. It was much more excusable to marry him than to
get drunk with him. That is a new accomplishment of Andrew's, by
the way. He usen't to drink.
...apostrophe firmly in place. I would bet, however, that this is not a
typo on behalf of OED staff, but that they scanned the original
printing and that's how it first appeared. A Google search turned up
news of a critical edition of Major Barbara, but from what I
understand, OED policy in that case is still to scan the first edition
(be it UK or US) into their database.
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