She writes "sox" instead of "socks." What's that all about? Is this an accepted alternative spelling? (I wouldn't quite recommend the book, but it is also interesting in other ways.)
One other thing about Ann Birstein's "What I Saw at the Fair"
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"Sox" is in the official Scrabble dictionary (SOWPODS) as an alternate spelling of socks.
As in, Bobby soxers.
Just to clarify, "sox" is in the OSPD, not just SOWPODS. The OSPD is a subset of the much more generous SOWPODS list.
Strictly speaking, OSPD refers to the actual published dictionary. The official word list (OWL) used in North American tournaments is based on OSPD, but adapted to reinstate the derogatory and obscene words (expurgated in the dictionary), expanded to include words up to 15 letters, and other minor errata.
SOWPODS is the union of the OWL and another word list (OSW) which was in use in Britain, and is used for tournaments in Britain and most of the rest of the world.
"Sox" has been in Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary since at least the 9th edition (1991), which is the oldest one I have on hand.
No cite on earliest usage. And it's a hard thing to Google for.