[Ads-l] "vet" (n. 1848, v. 1875)

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Thu Feb 2 18:33:08 UTC 2017


In my limited experience, the current sense of the verb has become
increasingly common since ca1980. (I first heard it in 1981).

JL

On Thu, Feb 2, 2017 at 12:36 PM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:

> My latest Wall Street Journal column is on "vetting," extreme or otherwise.
>
> https://www.wsj.com/articles/from-horse-racing-to-extreme-
> vetting-1486048469
>
> As usual, you can sidestep the WSJ paywall by Googling for the
> headline or following a social media link, like this one:
>
> https://twitter.com/bgzimmer/status/827205437443493890
>
> The OED2 entries for the noun and verb forms of "vet" have yet to be
> updated, so here are a couple of antedatings.
>
> * "vet" n. = 'veterinary surgeon' (OED2 1862)
>
> Harry Hieover, _The Pocket and the Stud: Or, Practical Hints on the
> Management of the Stable_, 1848, p. 4
> Again comes the veterinary surgeon; and as of course came the cold, so
> of course comes the vet.’s bill.
> https://books.google.com/books?id=ELcCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA4
> (Other examples throughout, all with a period after "vet.")
>
> * "vet" v. = 'submit to examination by a veterinary surgeon' (OED2 1891)
>
> _Freeman's Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser_ (Dublin, Ireland),
> Mar. 26, 1875, p. 6, col. 4
> Prince George is an honest wear-and-tear customer and with 10st 11lb
> ought to take some doing; but he was slightly lame after his Rugby
> performance, and returned to Dublin only to be "vetted."
>
>
> --bgz
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



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