... "I scarfed a pint of ice cream" is often used in New England even though we know the word scoffed is correct

Cambridge International dictionary gives scarf as American variation of scoff. Who scarfed up all the sandwiches?


I know the word scarf also in a woodworking/construction context meaning to fit a piece of wood in an odd shape hole or joint(I think). As in "I chiselled out all the rotten wood in the window sill and scarfed a new piece of wood in".
I eventually found a dictionary with it in (but not quite as I use it):

NOUN: Inflected forms: pl. scarfs (skärfs)
1. A joint made by cutting or notching the ends of two pieces correspondingly and strapping or bolting them together. Also called scarf joint. 2. Either of the correspondingly cut or notched ends that fit together to form such a joint.
TRANSITIVE VERB: Inflected forms: scarfed, scarf·ing, scarfs
1. To join by means of a scarf. 2. To cut a scarf in.
ETYMOLOGY: Middle English skarf, as in scarfnail, probably from Old Norse skarfr, end piece of a board cut off on the bias.


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.

Rod