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Examples
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She was dressed in a pink print, simply yet well-made, and altogether the child looked out of keeping with her surroundings, particularly with her foster brother, Charlie, in his corduroys and his swill-pail by his side.
The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. VIII. No. 358, November 6, 1886. Various
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On the step by her side was a large earthen bowl, into which she put the potatoes, while throwing the skins into the swill-pail on her right.
Bressant Julian Hawthorne 1890
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She was obliged to give her whole mind to the operation, there being a danger lest, in rapid working, she should happen to throw the potato into the swill-pail, and put the skin into the earthen bowl.
Bressant Julian Hawthorne 1890
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Old Wrinkle was singing "How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord!" as he trudged back to the house, swinging his empty swill-pail.
Dixie Hart 1888
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He trudged across the passage, drawn down on one side by the weight of a dripping swill-pail which he was taking to the pigpen, descended the short flight of steps, and turned back toward Henley.
Dixie Hart 1888
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Wrinkle came from a rear door, a swill-pail in hand, and, bending under its weight, he trudged down to his pigpen at the barn.
Dixie Hart 1888
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It was when one of the table-legs overturned the swill-pail that the long pent-up storm burst in a torrent of invective.
Famous Adventures And Prison Escapes of the Civil War George Washington Cable 1884
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Don't you know that swill-pail wants emptying, without being told of it? "
Down The River Buck Bradford and His Tyrants Oliver Optic 1859
qroqqa commented on the word swill-pail
A swill-pail stood at the head of the bed, brimming with abominations.
—Djuna Barnes, Nightwood
November 21, 2008
sionnach commented on the word swill-pail
To me, it seems that Djuna is trying a little too hard with this sentence. To describe the contents of a swill-pail as "abominations" seems overwrought. And am I wrong to think that 'abomination' generally conveys a negative aesthetic or moral dimension, and is not normally used to describe the purely physical? The contents of a swill-pail seem likely to be value-neutral; thus, in what sense an abomination?
November 21, 2008
qroqqa commented on the word swill-pail
I haven't got the book with me today, and Snippet View is too mean to give me much context, but I think as well as poo it might contain the odd aborted fetus, this being one of the doctor's lines of business.
November 21, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word swill-pail
Now, that would be a pretty spot-on description of abominations in a swill-pail.
November 21, 2008
bilby commented on the word swill-pail
Yes, I think it's an oversimplification to assume the swill-pail contains (merely?) swill. What if it's hung on the bedpost as a barf bucket? The gazunder that gazover? Lord High Chamberpot?
November 21, 2008
qroqqa commented on the word swill-pail
On the other hand, 'brimming with' starts to conjure up some pretty disturbing thoughts then.
November 21, 2008
reesetee commented on the word swill-pail
*looking away from page*
November 21, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word swill-pail
Listen, poo and barf cannot compare to the other stuff.
November 21, 2008