Re: CHAT geek (was: /nj/ vs. /J/ etc)

John Leland wrote:
> I believe I read an article by Asimov in which he claimed "geek" was a
> term
> used in circus sideshows for people who killed chickens with their teeth
> and
> other bizarre acts.
> In my experience, Asimov did not know as much about language history as he
> thought he did, so I do not know how accurate this may be.
Perhaps he'd seen the same movie (mid-late 40s) that I did, starring Ray
Milland(1) IIRC as an alcoholic who suffered a terrible decline, and ended
up as a....sideshow geek.  One of the things he had to do was, indeed, bite
the heads off chickens.

I don't know of anyone who'd actually _seen_ such a thing way back then, but
surely Hollywood wouldn't foist an urban legend off on the gullible public,
would they?
======================
(1) I may be conflating this with "Lost Weekend", but don't think so.  Mr.
Milland had a number of forgettable parts back then, and even later.  His
performance in the starring role of "The Sun also Rises" is cringe-making.