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frogmarch

(12,153 posts)
Tue Mar 8, 2022, 10:51 PM Mar 2022

Little Orphant Annie

I've always liked the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie," by James Whitcomb Riley, but one word left me puzzled - until today. (Thanks, Google.)

The word is "roundabout." I had no idea what a roundabout is, or was.

It appears in this line:

But all they ever found was thist his pants an' roundabout

Google said a roundabout is a short jacket worn by men or boys.

Roundabout jackets are also called shell jackets. They were worn by Union soldiers in the Civil War (1861-1865), as well as earlier, in the War of 1812 (1812-1815) against Great Britain, and the style stuck around.




The poem:
https://poets.org/poem/little-orphant-annie

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