[Ads-l] "snow farm", not in OED; 1970--? Bostonism?

Shawnee Moon moon.shawnee at GMAIL.COM
Fri Feb 17 16:28:14 UTC 2017


It ties in, somewhat, to the use of harvest; I've heard the term "email harvesting" from discussions about spammers going through websites and posts to harvest emails to which they will send junk email. I'm not sure if email farming is a thing, since they are neither grown nor stored.

Mailed from the Moon 🌜

> On Feb 16, 2017, at 6:47 PM, Baker, John <JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM> wrote:
> 
> While it would not surprise me at all if "snow farm" were earlier than 2011, I think Joel's find is from 2015.  If it's the picture at https://www.bostonglobe.com/1970/01/22/residents-digging-out-again/wL2YqNeiycyeAXvYqM6Q1I/story.html?pic=4, then note that picture 12 in the same sequence, https://www.bostonglobe.com/1970/01/22/residents-digging-out-again/wL2YqNeiycyeAXvYqM6Q1I/story.html?pic=12, is from Feb. 10, 2015.
> 
> 
> John Baker
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Joel Berson
> Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2017 5:58 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: "snow farm", not in OED; 1970--? Bostonism?
> 
> John Baker went back only to 2011; if my find is correct the Boston Globe used it in 1970.  (I see I mentioned farming as revenue gathering in the 2015 chain.)  In any case, it's good to know that people besides New Englanders talk about the weather.
> 
> Joel
> 
> 
>      From: ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU 
> Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2017 2:30 PM
> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] "snow farm", not in OED; 1970--? Bostonism?
> 
> John Baker initiated a thread on "snow farm" back in March 2015 when
> he offered the term as 2015 Word of the Year and listed some
> citations:
> 
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2015-March/136151.html
> 
> Other phrases were mentioned: ice farm, body farm, fuel farm.
> 
> Garson
> 
> 
>> On Thu, Feb 16, 2017 at 11:37 AM, Joel Berson <berson at att.net> wrote:
>> Does it go back to the older sense of "to farm" as "to collect taxes, fees, etc."?
>> 
>> Joel
>> 
>> 
>>       From: Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>   To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>   Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2017 11:28 AM
>>   Subject: Re: [ADS-L] "snow farm", not in OED; 1970--? Bostonism?
>> 
>> Is this a productive euphemism process?  Can we reconceptualize automobile junkyards “car farms”?  And town dumps “garbage farms”?  And sewers “underwater waste farms”?  Who says farming is in trouble?
>> 
>> LH
>> 
>>> On Feb 16, 2017, at 11:23 AM, Joel Berson <berson at ATT.NET> wrote:
>>> 
>>> A quick peek into the Boston Globe shows an instance on Jan. 21,1970, in a picture caption:
>>> 
>>> "Boston's snow farm in the Seaport District kept getting bigger."
>>> 
>>> Another winter storm slams Boston (Photo 4 of 57) - Pictures - The Boston Globe
>>> 
>>> 
>>> |
>>> |
>>> |
>>> |  |    |
>>> 
>>>   |
>>> 
>>>   |
>>> |
>>> |  |
>>> Another winter storm slams Boston (Photo 4 of 57) - Pictures - The Boston ...
>>>   |  |
>>> 
>>>   |
>>> 
>>>   |
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> And there are many instances from the notorious season of 2014--2015.
>>> 
>>> Google Books seems tedious, since (as far as I know) it doesn't respect capitalization.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> The "Lexicon" column in today's Boston Globe defines it as "Where blizzards go to die."  Is it a Bostonism?
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Joel
>>> 
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>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> 
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