[Sca-cooks] Re: Chickens in Hochee
rbbtslyr
rbbtslyr at comporium.net
Thu Jun 2 06:12:48 PDT 2005
I said it was the anscestor of the word not the word, Mess comes from the older word "for to serve" and not the word meaning "disorder" Sorry for the confusion.
Kirk KA4PXK
Meddle not in the Affairs of Dragons, for thou art Chrunchy and Taste Good with Catsup or BBQ Sauce
Liberty Hill, SC Elevation 571 ft
Liberty Hill, SC (Kershaw)
Longitude: 80° 48' 7" W (-80.8019°)
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Grid: EM94
----- Original Message -----
From: Huette von Ahrens
To: Cooks within the SCA
Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 4:24 PM
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Chickens in Hochee
--- rbbtslyr <rbbtslyr at comporium.net> wrote:
> It is the ancestor of the military term "Mess" it means to serve I looked it up and there is a
> good on line page I came across called the "Good Cooking Ring" that has a glossary and receipes
> from the Middle Arges and conversions for modern Kitchens. Mess is to Serve so it means to
> "Serve him and cast the powder? down"
>
>
> Kirk
Actually there are a ton of different meanings of the word mess in period. Only a couple are
the military term, which came later than this entry does.
Huette
Mess, n.
[< Anglo-Norman mes, mees, messe, Old French mes portion of food (mid 12th cent.; Middle French,
French mets dish, food) < post-classical Latin missus portion of food, course of a meal (4th
cent.), spec. use of classical Latin missus, lit. 'sending' < the Indo-European base of mittere to
send (see MISSION n.) + the Indo-European base of -tus, suffix forming verbal nouns. Cf. Italian
(arch.) messo course of a meal (14th cent.).
All senses other than the primary sense 'portion of food' appear to be English developments.
French mess military refectory (1831; cf. sense 5b) is a borrowing from English.
Late Middle English variation in the quantity of the root vowel between short and long open
(as well as subsequent raising of the latter) is shown by such Middle English and later forms as
mease, meisse, meesse, mase. This variation is common in borrowings from French, esp. before
sibilants (see discussion s.v. PRESS v.1, and see further E. J. Dobson Eng. Pronunc. 1500-1700
(ed. 2, 1968) II. §8).]
I. A portion of food, and related senses.
1. a. A serving of food; a course; a meal; a prepared dish of a specified kind of food. Also
fig. Now hist. and Eng. regional (except as merging into sense 2a).
Figurative uses of this sense (for example, quots. 1570, a1764) are often indistinguishable from
the more pejorative senses 2c and 3a.
c1300 St. Cuthbert 68 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 361 Gistes wel gladliche
thene mete he εaf..him-seolf he wolde..serui heom of alle the mes. c1330 King of Tars (Auch.)
86
in Englische Studien (1889) 11 35 the soudan sat at his des, Yserued of the first mes. a1400
(a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 12559 Nother durst thai..brek thair brede, ne tast thair mes. a1425
in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 658/8 Hoc frustrum, mese,
gobyt. ?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) 154 thai bring before him thaer fyfe meessez. 1570 J.
FOXE Actes & Monuments (rev. ed.) III. 2016/2 What an euill messe of handling this Whittell had,
& how he was..all to beaten..manifestly may appeare. 1577 R. HOLINSHED Chron. III. 920/1 The which
[sc. servants] togither kept also a continuall messe in the hall. 1603 T. DEKKER Wonderfull Yeare
sig. C1v, Most blisfull Monarch..Seru'd with a messe of kingdomes. a1616 SHAKESPEARE Oth. (1622)
IV. i. 195, I will chop her into messescuckold me! 1631 T. HEYWOOD England's Elizabeth (1641) 175
Before the second messe came in, he fell sick at the table. 1708 C. CIBBER Lady's Last Stake I. i.
4 What a Mess of Impertinence have I had this Morning. 1751 D. HUME Dialogue in Enq. Princ. Morals
228 My friend Alcheic form'd once a Party for my Entertainment,..and each of us brought his Mess
along with him. a1764 R. LLOYD Poet in Poet. Wks. (1774) II. 17 As colleges, who duly bring Their
mess of verse to every king. 1766 J. BARTRAM Diary 23 Jan. in Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. (1942) 33
44/2 We cooked a fine mess of palm-cabbage. 1770 N. NICHOLLS Let. 28 Nov. in T. Gray Corr. (1971)
III. 1152 In hopes of learning a little profane history to mix with my divine, which is really a
bad mess by itself. 1819 BYRON Don Juan II. xli, For want of water, and their solid mess Was scant
enough. 1841 G. P. R. JAMES Corse de Leon II. iv. 89 Here comes the old woman with my mess of
food. 1888 R. L. STEVENSON Black Arrow 144 Three or four men sat drinking ale and eating a hasty
mess of eggs. 1962 G. E. EVANS Ask Fellows who cut Hay (ed. 2) xxv. 234 It is possible..to point
to words still heard in the Norfolk and Suffolk as well as the Essex dialect:..'skeer' for scare;
'mess' a meal of food. 1993 B. HARVEY Living & Dying in Eng. (1995) ii. 44 Food was brought to the
table in portions called messes. A large mess contained food for four monks.
b. A quantity (of meat, fruit, etc.) sufficient to make a dish. Now U.S. regional.
1513 T. MORE Richard III (1883) 46 You haue very good strawberies at your gardayne in Holberne,
I require you let vs haue a messe of them. 1600 SHAKESPEARE 2 Hen. IV II. i. 97 Goodwife
Keech..comming in to borow a messe of vinegar. 1621 in C. Innes Black Bk. Taymouth (1855) 313 Off
new salt beiff i quarter iiii meiss. 1697 S. SEWALL Diary (1878) I. 455 Betty gets her Mother a
Mess of English Beans. 1775 B. ROMANS Conc. Nat. Hist. E. & W. Florida 12 He told me; that his
mother had an inclination to eat fish, and he was to come to get her a mess. 1792 G. WHITE Jrnl. 1
May (1970) xxv. 402 Cut a good mess of aspargus. 1838 T. SHONE Jrnl. 20 Oct. (1992) 69 We gather'd
a mess of new potatoes for dinner. 1861 O. W. NORTON Army Lett. (1903) 26 H. and I got enough
[potatoes] for a mess, and some parsnips. 1883 J. C. HARRIS Nights with Uncle Remus iii. 30 Brer
Rabbit, he hop in, he did, en got 'im a mess er greens, en hop out ag'in. 1908 M. E. FREEMAN
Shoulders of Atlas 249, I wish you'd go out in the garden and pick a mess of green corn for
supper. 1944 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. II. 58 Mess..enough to make a meal: 'a mess of greens (or
turnips)'. 1982 in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (1996) III. 575/1 Messserving quantity.
c. The quantity of milk given by a cow at one milking. Now U.S. regional (chiefly New England).
a1533 J. FRITH Against Rastel (?1537) sig. Dii, A shrowd cowe whiche whan she hath geven a large
messe of milke torneth it don with her hele. 1594 J. OGLE Lament. Troy sig. g4, I may saie of thee
now, As the good-wife wont saie of hir cow That gaue a messe of milke new and soot. 1803 F. SAYERS
Nugæ Poeticæ 16 They drink a mess of milk drawn from the cows Which ever-chewing range the
fruitful meads. 1842 Knickerbocker 19 557 Sally couldn't hardly bring in the pail, she gave such a
mess. 1872 Rep. Vermont Board Agric. 1 197, I tested their milk by weighing every mess for a
month. 1929 Amer. Speech 5 118 A good hearted person with a high temper..[is] 'like a cow that
gives a good mess of milk, then kicks the pail over'. 1967 in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (1996)
III. 575/1 She gives a good mess of milk.
d. Chiefly U.S. A take or haul of fish, esp. one sufficient to provide a meal.
1577 Arte of Angling sig. Aviiv, 'But how now, al this while and not a fishe?..' 'I could be wel
content to haue lesse talk now, my messe of fishe beeing so litle.' 1766 J. ROWE Diary in Lett. &
Diary (1903) 97 After dinner we went & caught a mess of Trout. 1854 H. D. THOREAU Walden 338, I
got a rare mess of golden and silver and bright cupreous fishes. 1881 W. O. STODDARD Esau Hardery
60, I caught a prime mess of eels last night. 1901 R. D. EVANS Sailor's Log vi. 59 The
captain..sent me a mess of the finest mackerel I ever saw. 1995 Denver Post 28 May (Post Mag.) 8/3
White's husband..remembers the many house calls he made, often for no more than a mess of catfish
to take home to supper.
e. regional (N. Amer. and Brit.). A (usually large) quantity or number of something.
1809 T. BATCHELOR Orthoëpical Anal. Eng. Lang. 138 What a mes there is. 1826 R. S. COFFIN
Jonathan's Acct. Pilgrim People in W. Morgan Amer. Icon (1988) 121 A mess of folks where Plymouth
lays, Stood on a rock amaz'd And there they lean'd, and loll'd, and set, All moping in the dumps.
1834 C. A. DAVIS Lett. J. Downing iv. 40 With that, he out with his wallet, and unrolled a mess on
'em. 1866 R. HALLAM Wadsley Jack xix, Besoides a mess on it under his noase. 1890 P. H. EMERSON
Wild Life on Tidal Water 60 Depositing a 'mess o' eels' he had brought as a present. 1939 L. M.
MONTGOMERY Anne of Ingleside xxxviii. 300 Tell Susan Baker I'm much obliged for that mess of
turnip greens she sent me. 1956 B. HOLIDAY Lady sings Blues (1973) xix. 154 Just before I was set
to go on for the second set a big mess of gardenias arrived backstage. 1989 Barron's 24 Apr. 48/2
These [desktop publishing systems] are..for big-time outfits that do a mess of printing and do it
themselves or for independent print shops.
2. a. A portion or serving of liquid or pulpy food such as milk, broth, porridge, boiled
vegetables, etc.
The expression a mess of pottage, alluding to the biblical story of Esau's sale of his
birthright (Genesis 25:29-34), does not occur in the Authorized Version of the Bible (1611),
although it is found in this context as early as c1452 (see quot.). It appears in the heading of
Chapter 25 in the Bibles of 1537 and 1539, and in the Geneva Bible of 1560. Coverdale (1535) does
not use the phrase, either in the text or the chapter heading (his words being 'meace of meate',
'meace of ryse'), but he has it in 1 Chronicles 16:3 and Proverbs 15:7.
c1330 Horn Child 548 in J. Hall King Horn (1901) 185 Loke thou bring it bifor e king..As he
sittes at his des, Yserued of the first mes. c1390 in F. J. Furnivall Minor Poems Vernon MS (1901)
II. 535 Bettre is potage with-outen othur mes. c1452 J. CAPGRAVE Treat. Augustine Orders in J. J.
Munro Capgrave's Lives St. Augustine & St. Gilbert (1910) 145 [Jacob] supplanted his brothir,
bying his fader blessing for a mese of potage. a1500 (?c1300) Bevis of Hampton (Cambr.) 83 But
onys yn a weke a symple messe Of sodyn barley was hart lees. 1526 W. BONDE Pylgrimage of
Perfection I. sig. Fii, Som for a messe of potage, with Esau careth nat to sell the euerlastyng
inheritaunce of heuen. 1594 T. LODGE & R. GREENE Looking Glasse sig. C3v, I want my mease of milke
when I goe to my worke. 1595 A. DUNCAN Appendix Etymol., Iusculum, a mease of brue. 1602
SHAKESPEARE Merry W. III. i. 59, I had as leeue you should tel me of a messe of poredge. a1641 T.
HEYWOOD & W. ROWLEY Fortune by Land & Sea III. i, Give..a word to the dayry maid for a mess of
cream. 1645 MILTON L'Allegro in Poems 34 Hearbs, and other Country Messes. 1669 J. WORLIDGE
Systema Agric. (1681) 41 The Meal makes..good Pottage, and several other Messes. 1711 SWIFT Jrnl.
to Stella 23 Dec. (1948) II. 444, I have..eaten only a mess of broth and a roll. 1790 Coll. Voy.
V. x. 1771 Having observed several messes of porpoise broth preparing. 1834 F. MARRYAT Peter
Simple II. xviii. 309 Peter, read me about Jacob, and his weathering Esau with a mess of pottage.
1884 Fortn. Rev. Mar. 379 They are fond of farinaceous messes. 1931 A. UTTLEY Country Child xiii.
180 They..took out beautiful copper saucepans filled with savoury messes which they put on the
stove. 1963 M. L. KING Strength to Love xvi. 131 You cannot in good conscience sell your
birthright of freedom for a mess of segregated pottage. 1983 G. LORD Tooth & Claw x. 75 She
stirred the mess of lentils.
b. A kind of liquid or mixed food for an animal; a quantity of this. Obs.
1738 POPE Epil. to Satires II. 12 If one [hog]..Has what the frugal, dirty soil affords, From
him the next receives it, thick or thin, As pure a Mess almost as it came in. 1810 Sporting Mag.
36 251 The infernal mess alluded to..being ordered for race-horses. 1841 R. BROWNING Pippa Passes
ii, 'Tis only a page..Crumbling your hounds their messes! 1860 C. M. YONGE Countess Kate i, [He
was] mixing a mess of warm milk for the young calves. 1894 T. D. ENGLISH Sel. Poems 240 The cows
have their mess, and the pigs get their corn.
c. An unappetizing, unpalatable, or disgusting dish or concoction; an ill-assorted mixture of
any kind, a hotchpotch.
1828 WEBSTER Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang., Mess,..2. A medley; a mixed mass. 1836 C. P. TRAILL
Backwoods of Canada 124 Rice, sugar, currants, pepper and mustard all jumbled into one mess. 1854
A. E. BAKER Gloss. Northamptonshire Words, Mess, a hodge-podge, or dirty, disagreeable mixture.
Any culinary preparation that is unpalatable would be called 'a nasty mess'. 1921 D. H. LAWRENCE
Sea & Sardinia iii. 123 How I am nauseated with sentiment and nobility, the macaroni
slithery-slobbery mess of modern adorations. 1926 P. SMITH Beadle (1929) 181 Jantje brought with
him, secreted about his person, a horrible sticky mess of almond tommelaitjes. 1959 Times Lit.
Suppl. 20 Mar. 156/3 He writes about subjects which, in less skilled hands, have so often and so
embarrassingly degenerated into a mess of gush and goo. 1980 Jewish Chron. 29 Feb. 30/2 We were
treated to a kaleidoscopic mess of fifties rip-offs, sixties platitudes and seventies mistakes.
3. a. fig. A situation or state of affairs that is confused or presents numerous difficulties;
a troubled or embarrassed state or condition; a predicament.
1812 T. CREEVEY Let. 4 June in Creevey Papers (1903) I. 164 Wellesley..was as good as turned out
of Carlton House when he went back with Grey's refusal..and this accounts for the 'violent
]personal objections' which he describes Prinney as having to Grey... It is a rare mess, by God!
1819 KEATS Let. 17 Sept. (1958) II. 186 My name with the literary fashionables is vulgar..a
]Tragedy would lift me out of this mess. 1844 H. STEPHENS Bk. of Farm II. 165 The London
butcher..will..reject such cattle or sheep as are what is termed in a mess; that is, depressed,
after excitation by being overlaid or overdriven. 1891 S. C. SCRIVENER Our Fields & Cities 173 But
never mind, Charlie boy, keep out of messes. 1949 N. MARSH Swing, Brother, Swing ix. 211 There's
one thing..that's sticking out of this mess like a road-sign and I can't read it. 1994 Daily Mail
29 Sept. 9/1 He helped me..out of a terrible mess when I hadn't got a clue which way to turn.
b. A dirty or untidy state of things or of a place; a collection of disordered things,
producing such a state.
1826 'W. T. MONCRIEFF' Tom & Jerry III. v. 97 Log. You never use any chalk here? Turn.... It
makes such a mess all over the walls. 1851 H. MAYHEW London Labour II. 173/1 They make it a rule
when they receive neither beer nor money from a house to make as great a mess as possible the next
time they come. 1867 W. H. SMYTH Sailor's Word-bk., Mess,..the state of a ship in a sudden squall,
when everything is let go and flying. 1917 J. MASEFIELD Old Front Line v. 67 All this mess of
heaps and hillocks is strung and filthied over with broken bodies and ruined gear. 1939 Archit.
Rev. 85 213 Where hand-mixing [of plaster] is carried out the mess and waste that are inevitable
when plaster is mixed on 'banker-boards' and then transferred to 'spot-boards' should be avoided
where possible. 1985 M. SACHS Fat Girl ii. 11 It's a great house, but it's kind of a mess because
Mrs Jenkins isn't much of a housekeeper.
c. to make a mess of: (a) to bungle or badly mishandle (an undertaking); (b) to put into a
disordered, dirty, or otherwise imperfect state.
1834 F. MARRYAT Peter Simple III. x. 131 We then talked over the attack of the privateer, in
which we were beaten off. 'Ah!' replied the aide-de-camp, 'you made a mess of that.' 1862 C.
DARWIN in Life & Lett. (1887) II. 392, I am rejoiced that I passed over the whole subject in the
'Origin', for I should have made a precious mess of it. 1883 R. BROUGHTON Belinda II. III. ii. 186
'For Heaven's sake, do not try!' says Belinda, in serious dissuasion, 'or you will be sure to make
a mess of it!' 1958 J. CAREW Wild Coast ii. 22 Boy, if you kill all the hardbacks that come in
here you will make a mess of my clean floor. 1966 E. WILSON Diary 17 Nov. in L. Dabney Sixties
(1993) 556, I had managed..to tell him [sc. W. H. Auden]..that his anthology of minor
nineteenth-century verse had been made a mess of. 1995 N. BLINCOE Acid Casuals xxvii. 208 You made
a right fucking mess of my car, John Quay. I don't care to think about the fucking repair bill.
d. colloq. A person who is dirty or untidy in appearance; (fig.) a person whose life or
affairs are disorganized, esp. due to the influence of drink or drugs used habitually; an
ineffectual or incompetent person.
1891 C. WORDSWORTH Rutland Words s.v., She's a poor mess. She can't go out to sarvice: she's a
weakly mess. 1936 M. MITCHELL Gone with Wind I. vi. 122 'Oh,' thought Scarlett... 'To have that
mealy-mouthed little mess take up for me!' 1938 E. BOWEN Death of Heart I. ii. 40 From what you
say, her mother was quite a mess. 1965 M. SPARK Mandelbaum Gate iv. 104 These were lapsed Jews,
lapsed Arabs, lapsed citizens, runaway Englishmen, dancing prostitutes, international messes. 1979
E. HARDWICK Sleepless Nights iv. 5 She began..to speak of her son. A mess... Drugs?... Of course.
1987 T. WOLFE Bonfire of Vanities (1988) iv. 98 His hair felt like a bird's nest. He was a mess.
1990 J. EBERTS & T. ILOTT My Indecision is Final lvii. 615 He was mentally destroyed by December.
He was a mess. He was exhausted.
e. colloq. (euphem.). Excrement, esp. that of an animal deposited in an inappropriate place.
Esp. in to make a mess.
1903 Eng. Dial. Dict., Mess, Ordure, the quantity of dung excreted at one time. 1928 R. KIPLING
Limits & Renewals (1932) 50 It's [sc. a dog] made a mess in the corner. 1939 A. HUXLEY After Many
a Summer I. x. 138 A lovely stinking little baby who still made messes in its bed. 1940 N. MITFORD
Pigeon Pie ix. 144 Perhaps, she thought, the bird wants to go out... It made a mess on her skirt.
1986 U. HOLDEN Tin Toys (1987) ii. 19, I wasn't allowed to look at dogs' messes on the roadside.
f. colloq. (chiefly U.S.). Nonsense, rubbish; insolence, abuse.
1937 in Weevils in Wheat (1976) 4 You don' have ter take dat mess offen him. 1966 R. PRICE
Generous Man (1967) i. 13 You set there talking mess while my dog is suffering and dying maybe.
1998 Sported! 12 Mar. 5/1 Lezza believes completely in his own abilities and hates answering daft
reporters' questions. He won't take any mess from anybody.
4. U.S. regional (chiefly south Midland). An entertaining, witty, or puzzling person.
1952 Frank C. Brown Coll. N. Carolina Folklore I. 564 Mess,..a person regarded as more witty,
lively, entertaining, etc., than most people; a 'show'. 'Now ain't Mr. Jim a mess!' 1970 C. MAJOR
Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 81 Mess.., to say to someone, 'You're a mess', is to imply that he or she
is remarkable or puzzling. 1972 in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (1996) III. 575/1 Mrs. Wright had her
feelings bruised when someone said that she was a mess... The person meant she was fun to be with,
not sloppy.
II. A company of people eating together.
5. a. Originally: any of the small groups, normally of four people sitting together and served
from the same dishes, into which the company at a banquet was usually divided (now only with
reference to benchers' and law-students' dinners at the English Inns of Court). Hence: any company
of persons, esp. members of an institution or professional body, who regularly take their meals
together.
Now used chiefly in Mil. contexts (see sense 5b), in Law (where in England the term continues to
be applied to a dinner held by the local bar for the benefit of judges on circuit), and in some
English public schools.
a1450 (c1410) H. LOVELICH Hist. Holy Grail xiii. 359 Whanne Tholome his mes-men he sawh so fle.
a1475 J. RUSSELL Bk. Nurture 1050 in F. J. Furnivall Early Eng. Meals & Manners (1931) 72
Bisshoppes, Merques, vicount, Erle..May sytte at ij messez..ij or els iij at a messe yeff ey be
greable. a1475 J. RUSSELL Bk. Nurture 1065 in F. J. Furnivall Early Eng. Meals & Manners (1931) 72
Of alle our estates to a messe ye may sette foure & foure. c1500 (?a1475) Assembly of Gods 257 So
he her set furst at hys owne messe. 1591 in W. Greenwell Wills & Inventories Reg. Durham (1860)
II. 199 For the charges of xij mease, that dyned at his owne house, 2l . 8d . 1607 F. BEAUMONT
Woman Hater I. ii. sig. B1v, Nor should there stand any..pyes, at the nether end fill'd with mosse
and stones, partly to make a shew with, and partly to keepe the lower messe from eating. 1654 T.
GATAKER Disc. Apol. 40 His fellow-Benchers that were in the same Messe with him. 1681 N. LUTTRELL
Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) I. 99 An addresse..was moved by some in the
hall [in Grayes Inn] that day at dinner, and being (as is usuall) sent to the barr messe to be by
them recommended to the bench. 1797 J. FARINGTON Diary 17 Nov. (1923) I. lxiii. 221 The Benchers
have a table covered with luxuries... Four in each Class form a mess. 1821 in N. Eng. Hist. & Gen.
Reg. (1876) 30 191 Here a number of members [of Congress], vulgarly called a 'Mess', put up, and
have a separate table. 1866 R. B. MANSFIELD School Life Winchester Coll. (1870) 219 [Winchester],
The Præfects' tables in Hall were called 'Tub, Middle, and Junior Mess' respectively. 1899 J. B.
ATLAY Famous Trials 388 Dr. Kenealy's fellow-barristers on the Oxford Circuit called upon him to
show cause before the mess on the allegation of having [etc.]... He declined to appear, and was
duly expelled from the mess. 1972 D. ONYEAMA Nigger at Eton i. 26 One of the privileges at Eton
was that boys could have tea in their own rooms, with no more than six friends. Such a group was
known as a 'mess'.
b. Each of the groups into which a military unit or ship's company is divided, the members of
each group taking their meals together. Later also: the place where meals are taken by such
groups; a place where personnel, esp. of similar rank, regularly eat or take recreation together
(also occas. in non-military contexts).
Recorded earliest in nautical contexts.
to lose (or settle) the number of one's mess: see NUMBER n. 25.
1536 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1905) VI. 450 The expensis of xxxij meis of
marineris, gunnaris, and utheris in the New Havin. 1599 E. WRIGHT Certaine Errors Nauigation 17
They willingly agreed, that euery mease should bee allowed at one meale but halfe so much drinke
as they were accustomed. 1627 J. SMITH Sea Gram. ix. 39 To messe them foure to a messe. 1745 D.
BRADSTREET Diary 18 July (1897) 25, I Delivd 6 Days allowance of meat To every mess & One Days
allowance of Peas; a Sheep Delivd to each Compy and pint of wine to Each man. 1772 T. SIMES Mil.
Guide Young Officers 200 When the regiment is in barracks, a Subaltern Officer is daily to visit
them, the messes and regimental infirmary. 1822 Gen. Regul. & Orders Army 123 Commanding Officers
are enjoined, when practicable, to form a Serjeants' Mess, as the means of supporting their
consequence and respectability in the Corps. 1858 P. L. SIMMONDS Dict. Trade Products, Mess..a
number of men who take their meals together; thus in vessels of war there are ward-room and
gun-room messes, comprising commissioned and subordinate officers. The seamen and marines' messes
consist of a dozen or more under the superintendence of a non-commissioned or petty officer. 1886
S. BARING-GOULD Court Royal iv, When one of H.M. vessels was put in commission, the mess was
furnished with new linen, plate, china, glass. 1890 G. STABLES For England, Home, & Beauty xvi.
234 The mess to which this man belonged is little more than a hot-bed of mutiny. 1934 G. B. SHAW
Too True to be Good II. 76 The conversation in the officers' mess doesnt suit me. 1957 A. C.
CLARKE Deep Range ii. 29 Lunch will be coming up in half an hour over at the Mess--that building
we passed on the way in. 1985 Radio Times 20 July 9/1 Doctors' messes are usually highly amusing
places. 1992 Ships Monthly Apr. 14/3 Wardroom, junior and senior rates' messes, galley and
auxiliary machinery are one deck below.
c. Chiefly Mil. Without article. Mealtime, or a meal, which takes place at a mess.
1778 Camp Guide 7 I'm summon'd to mess. 1806 R. WILSON in Life Gen. Sir R. Wilson (1862) I. ii.
60 My chief resistance to discipline was at mess where I could not brook the duties of Boots. 1876
W. BESANT & J. RICE Golden Butterfly I. xiii. 270 One evening after mess he told Colquhoun that
[etc.]. 1911 E. FERBER Buttered Side Down (1941) 218 There were pictures taken on board ship,
showing frolics..and the men at mess, and each sailor sleeping snug as a bug in his hammock. 1968
S. L. ELLIOTT Rusty Bugles in Three Austral. Plays I. iii. 54 Anyone going over for mess?
d. gen. A communal meal. Cf. TABLE n. 6c. Obs.
1840 T. ARNOLD Hist. Rome II. 551 The members of the aristocracy [of Athens] had their clubs,
where they habitually met at a common mess or public table. 1861 G. F. BERKELEY Eng. Sportsman
xiv. 239 He never brought anything from my kitchen to the general mess. 1878 R. B. SMITH Carthage
26 There were public messes, as they were called, but these were not..analogous to the Spartan
Syssitia.
6. gen. A company or group of four persons or things. Obs.
a1529 J. SKELTON Magnyfycence (c1530) sig. Ciiii, Let me se..Yf I can fynde out, So semely a
snowte Amonge this prese, Euen a hole mese. 1598 SHAKESPEARE L.L.L. IV. iii. 205 You three fooles,
lackt me foole, to make vp the messe. 1617 (title) Ianva Lingvarvm Qvadrilingvis, or a Messe of
Tongves: Latine, English, French, and Spanish. Neatly serued vp together, for a wholesome repast.
a1640 J. FLETCHER et al. Faire Maide of Inne III. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag.
(1647) sig. Fffffffv/1, The Messe And halfe of suiters. a1661 T. FULLER Worthies (1662) I. 13, I
meet with a mess of English Natives advanced to that Honour... Yea, I assure you, four Popes was a
very fair proportion for England. 1828 W. CARR Dial. Craven (ed. 2) I. 320 The number of four at
an entertainment at an inn, where a stipulation was made for a party to dinner at a certain price
per mess, or meos.
7. U.S. Short for mess beef, sense 9. Obs.
1855 N.Y. Weekly Tribune 6 Jan. 5/4 Our market is again lower, and is dull for Mess and Prime
Mess. 1859 N.Y. Herald 1 Jan. 8/5 Prime mess was quiet... Bacon and cut meats were quiet, and
prices unchanged. 1884 Harper's Mag. July 299/1 The average weight of the class of animals used
for 'mess' and 'canning' is 950 pounds... The division [of the carcasses] is made
into..pieces..viz. loins, ribs, mess, plates, chucks, rolls, rumps, [etc.]... 'Extra mess' is
composed of chucks, plates, rumps, and flanks.
8. Short for mess-boy, sense 9. Chiefly used in the vocative.
1927 J. F. LEYS After you, Magellan! iii. 31 The fireman, having missed his breakfast
prunes..accused mess of giving them to some one else. 1928 E. BLUNDEN Undertones of War ii. 12 A
call, 'Mess', produced a young soldier like Mr. Pickwick's Fat Boy in khaki, who went away with
his orders, and soon I was given a large enamel plate full of meat and vegetable rations. 1961 G.
FOULSER Seaman's Voice ix. 137 Our messboy, Michael Olsen, came from Hønefoss... 'Mess' was a
likeable kid. 1972 E. N. CLEAVES Sea Fever 37 Well, mess..what have we today?
Remember that while money talks, chocolate sings.
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