non-chuck (1972), nunchuck (1974)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Thu, Jul 16, 2009 at 2:32 PM, Victor<aardvark66 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Is it possible that "Search this book" actually gave you a different volume?

Anything is possible with serialized publications on Google Books --
at least until they get rid of snippet view.

> However, I will stick to my law enforcement suggestion. If someone can
> beat me to the Lexis search on nunchaku, I am sure that references will
> pop up earlier than 1969, at least, in California. I'll try to get to a
> Lexis account next week.

I did a Lexis search when I was pinpointing the 1972 "non-chuck"
example (the NJ case had been mentioned in an issue of _Black Belt_),
and I didn't see anything for "nunchaku" before the early '70s in
federal and state cases or law reviews. California state code doesn't
go back that far, at least in the version of Lexis I'm accessing.

--Ben Zimmer

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