[Vwoolf] boss of the back

[Jeremy Hawthorn]

My colleague Laurence Davies, co-editor of Conrad's Collected Letters 
and amazingly well informed about almost everything, writes this:

"Could boss mean the small of the back? According to the Scots Dialect 
Dictionary (ed Alexander Warrock), the noun 'boss' can denote a hollow. 
(The online OED records this usage as a Scoticism -- sense 10 -- but 
records it as an adjective.)"

Did Woolf have anyone in her circle of friends who might make use a 
Scottish expression / term?

This seems the most promising lead so far for the /Jacob's Room/ puzzle.

Jeremy H

-- 
Jeremy Hawthorn
Emeritus Professor
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
7491 Trondheim
Norway

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