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[Fred Shapiro]

On Fri, 4 Jul 2003, degustibus wrote:

> Today's Oregonian attributes the term "swimming suit" to Jantzen:
> "Jantzen created the term 'swimming suit' around the time the first
> woman swam the English Channel.  Before that they were called 'bathing'
> suits or costumes."
>
> My OED (not the most recent) gives a 1926 (Sun Also Rises) Hemingway
> quote, the same year Gertrude Ederle swam the Channel.

This term is way older than 1926.  The earliest occurrence in the New York
Times is the follwing:

1878 _N.Y. Times_ 4 Feb. 5  He then took four men with him and went on
foot with life-preservers and swimming suits.

I don't have the time to wade through the hundreds of pre-1926 hits to see
the earliest one referring to women's attire, but there was an article
about female suits on 26 Jan. 1908, p. X6, with the headline "Swimming
Suits for Southern Pools."

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
  Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press,
Yale Law School                             forthcoming
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
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