| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| old-field colt |
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| NOUN: | Virginia A child born out of wedlock. Also called Regional woods colt. Also called regionally Regional catch colt. | | ETYMOLOGY: | From the unsupervised breeding of horses in unfrequented fields. | | REGIONAL NOTE: | Old-field colt is one of several old-fashioned regional euphemisms for a child born out of wedlock. The term is native to the Virginia Piedmont. Old-field is the Southern term for an overcultivated field allowed to lie fallow. Being isolated and usually undisturbed, these fields provided a place for unplanned breeding of horses and, figuratively, of children. The term is sometimes shortened to field colt. A related Southern expression is woods colt. The Western U.S. equivalent is catch colt.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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