Antedating of "Pig Latin"

[Fred Shapiro]

There is a general sense of "Pig Latin" and a specific sense (ecificspay
ensespay).  The OED's earliest citation for the general asense is 1937,
and for the specific sense is 1944 or 1956 (exact meaning of the 1944
citation is not perfectly clear).  Here are earlier examples:

1929 _N.Y. Times_ 6 Oct. XX6  An old Roman expression, "Omnia notum
tonsoribus," which, Durocher says, is pig Latin for "Barbers know
everything and talk plenty."

1938 _Forum and Century_ Oct. 176  Pig Latin used by circus men to confuse
rural cops.

1943 _N.Y. Times_ 11 July SM19  Propellers were forgotten as the audience
howled at directions given in double-talk, Pig Latin, and the sign
language.

1944 _N.Y. Times_ 31 Dec. SM14  Ourway Ecretsay Anguageslay  That means
'our secret languages' in Pig Latin.

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,
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