Q: "dame" in U.S. slang --1862, antedating 1902?

[Joel S. Berson]

At 4/5/2011 07:45 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>IIRC, the U.S. slang use of "dame" developed smoothly and imperceptibly from
>an earlier jocular use, common in 19th C. journalism.
>
>HDAS has many pre-1902 exx. The earliest dates from ca1700. It may or may
>not be useful to draw a line between pretty evident slang use (E.g., the
>modern proverb, "Dames!") and earlier, jocular standard, even literary, use.

I think this is what my uncertainty is about -- where among the
several senses to place my 1862 dame.

>As far as I can tell, it became common in lowbrow dialogue only beginning
>ca1890-1900 - a period when slang itself in lowbrow dialogue seems to have
>become more common.

If my quotation is "lowbrow" -- and it seems to have some element of
lowbrow and satire -- it's earlier than those dates.

Joel

>JL
>
>On Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 5:13 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > Subject:      Q: "dame" in U.S. slang --1862, antedating 1902?
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Is the following an antedating of OED2's "dame" n., sense 2.c,. "A
> > girl; a woman. Chiefly U.S. slang.", earliest quotation 1902?
> >
> > I trust it's not another possibility, 2.a, "humorously applied to an
> > aged housewife", which -- lumped in with "The 'lady' of the house,
> > the mistress of a household, a housewife", is dated from c1330.
> > -----
> > 1862 -- Barre [Massachusetts] Gazette; Date: 05-09-1862; Volume: 28;
> > Issue: 42; Page: [1]; Col. 3.
> >
> > Let me kiss him for his mother---A secesh anecdote.---As the last of
> > the rebel prisoners were entering the jail on Tuesday, a big mulatto
> > fellow from a neighboring slaughter house, who was making his way
> > through the crowd of spectators, was somewhat jostled in the
> > undertaking. A lady present, with more age than wisdom ... rushed
> > toward him with open arms ...
> > ...
> > The secesh dame struck a bee line toward the Washington monument amid
> > the cry of bystanders ...
> > Baltimore Clipper.
> > -----
> > Joel

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