"bucket list" before the movie?

[David Barnhart]

No evidence in Nexis of _bucket list_ before 2006.  But my hunch is you are
correct that it's origin is older than OED.

Regards,
David

barnhart at highlands.com


On Mon, Sep 16, 2013 at 11:24 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      "bucket list" before the movie?
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> My wife was just wondering if the expression was created by the movie, and
> my initial thought was that the movie probably just popularized it.  The
> OED is a bit wishy-washy:
>
> bucket list n.  [after _to kick the bucket_ at Phrases; popularized by the
> title of the film The Bucket List (2007): see quot. 2006.] colloq. a list
> of things that a person hopes to experience or achieve during his or her
> lifetime.
>
> But the 2006 quot. is just an UPI Newswire item about the upcoming movie
> release.  "Popularized" reinforces my suspicion that the screenwriter
> didn't come up with the expression, but there's no prior cite given.
>  Anyone know?
>
> LH
>
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