Antedatings of "shoo-in"

[Ben Zimmer]

On Thu, Dec 19, 2013 at 9:47 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>
> Wonder what the first cite of the classic eggcorn "shoe-in" is…

William Safire talked about "shoe-in" in a 1984 On Language column:

http://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/07/magazine/on-language-shoo-in.html

>From a quick Google Books search I can find it from 1973:

Stanley Elkin, "The Condominium," in _Searches & Seizures: Three
Novellas_ (1973), p. 248
"Thirty-seven and built like a horse," someone else said, "a shoe-in
for Security."
http://books.google.com/books?id=v7bqXc4f7mIC&pg=PA248

--bgz

--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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