"Dead man's float" (and not in OED)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Thanks, Sam, for locating those valuable earlier matches. Here is an
interesting match in Google Books in 1875 that may help to explain how
the term was created. There is a good chance this can be antedated
because I have only looked in GB. I noticed that the variant "dead man
float" is sometimes used.

Year: 1875
Title: The Art of Swimming in the Eton style
Author: "Sergeant" Leahy (Champion Swimmer of the Red Sea, 1849-1850;
and at Present Teacher of Swimming at Eton College)
Publisher: Macmillan & Co. London
Quote Page: 39

http://books.google.com/books?id=kz8CAAAAQAAJ&q=%22dead+man%27s%22#v=snippet&

[Begin excerpt]
...you can practice the dead man's float; the best way to do this is
to clear the cells of the lungs of all foul air, by expelling all your
breath as far as possible, two or three times; then draw in a long
breath, and hold your nose with one hand, to keep the water from
entering it; this done, get under the surface and leave yourself to
the mercy of the water, to turn you about as it likes...
[End excerpt]

Here is some relevant information from Dictionary.com
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Dead-man%27s%20float

[Begin excerpt]
dead-man's float
noun Swimming.
a prone floating position, used especially by beginning swimmers, with
face downward, legs extended backward, and arms stretched forward.
Also called prone float.
Origin: 1945–50

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary,  Random House, Inc. 2014.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sun, Jun 1, 2014 at 9:16 PM,  <sclements at neo.rr.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       sclements at NEO.RR.COM
> Subject:      Re: "Dead man's float" (and not in OED)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> That should be "Genealogy Bank."
>
>
> ---- sclements at neo.rr.com wrote:
>> 1910 in Geneaogy Bank,
>>
>> Sam Clements
>>
>> ---- sclements at NEO.RR.COM wrote:
>> > 1918 in N'Archive.
>> >
>> >
>> > ---- ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>> > > Periodical: Boys' Life
>> > > Date: July 1923
>> > > Article: Swimming and Diving
>> > > Author: James J. O'Rourke
>> > > Quote Page: 15
>> > >
>> > > http://books.google.com/books?id=VAu8xVoIXY4C&q=%22man%27s+float%22#v=snippet&
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > [Begin excerpt]
>> > > The dead man's float in the water with eyes on backs of hands is
>> > > diving form, too. Try it. Stretch toes and hands away out.
>> > > [End excerpt]
>> > >
>> > > Garson
>> > >
>> > > On Sun, Jun 1, 2014 at 7:47 PM, David Barnhart <dbarnhart at highlands.com> wrote:
>> > > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> > > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > > > Poster:       David Barnhart <dbarnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM>
>> > > > Subject:      Re: "Dead man's float" (and not in OED)
>> > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> > > >
>> > > > I first heard _dead-man's float_ in the late 1940's (probably 1948 or so.
>> > > > My recollection is that it was face-down in the water so it didn't matter if
>> > > > you breathed or not.  You were supposedly dead.  It's the position
>> > > > instructors liked to start out young inexperienced swimmers (such as
>> > > > myself).
>> > > >
>> > > > Regards and Happy June,
>> > > >
>> > > > David
>> > > >
>> > > > barnhart at highlands.com
>> > > >
>> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> > >
>> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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