[Ads-l] Self-care

Wed May 1 18:30:40 UTC 2019

The Oxford English Dictionary has a pertinent entry. Below is part of
the entry. I am only sharing a small number of the citations (because
of copyright). Also, the OED uses a rich font which may be scrambled
on this mailing list.

[Begin excerpt]
self-care, n.

1. Concern or regard for oneself; self-interested behaviour. Now rare.

1567   G. Turberville tr. Ovid Heroycall Epist. xix. f. 133v   If
selfe care all be past [L. si tibi non parcis], yet way thy friendly
Mate, Whose wealth and welfare doth depende vpon thy healthfull state.

1637   R. Humfrey in tr. St. Ambrose Christian Offices Pref. sig. E3
Renouncing..selfe-respect, selfe-love, selfe-care, pleasing himselfe:
and seeking to please his neighbour in what is good to edification.

2. The activity of taking care of one's own health, appearance, or well-being.

1861   Bible Class Mag. June 135/2   Dandy Gemflash thinks honourable
things of his self-care. The looking glass could tell you the same.

1864   Sanitary Comm. U.S. Army 253   The vital importance of fresh
air, cleanliness, cheerfulness, proper food, and self-care, are daily
becoming understood.

1906   Brit. Med. Jrnl. 7 Apr. Suppl. 168/2   The great majority at
least could be improved in habits of cleanliness and self-care.

  attributive. Designating a hospital unit or other facility which
provides care for people who are able to attend to many of their own
needs.

1958   Bridgeport (Connecticut) Post 1 May 5/3   ‘Self-care units’
where he may dress in his own clothes, and from where he may walk to
the hospital cafeteria and do other things for himself.
[End excerpt]

On Wed, May 1, 2019 at 1:37 PM George Thompson <george.thompson at nyu.edu> wrote:
>
> Theresa Fisher asks: Hi! I'm trying to figure out when the term "self-care"
> emerged. I've read a number articles that trace the history of the
> self-care movement. But I'm having trouble finding information about the
> origins of the term itself.   This Slate story suggests that self-care
> emerged as a medical concept at some point before the mid-20th century, and
> then acquired political meaning in the 1960s or 70s.
> I have no idea what the political meaning of self-care might be.
> I checked the Proquest database of American 'Historical Newspapers."
> There were a couple of appearances of the term with reference to women
> caring for their beauty at the beginning of the 20th century, then a lull.
> In the 1930s it appeared as a beauty tip, a medical term, and in a Nazi
> context. &c..
> There was a great drop-off in the term appearing in headlines in the 2010s,
> from the 2000s.
>
> Go to your library and talk to a librarian to check this and similar
> databases, more thoroughly.
>
> GAT
>
> Let Summer Days Help You in Keeping Your Skin Lovely: Summer Can Be Big
> Beauty Aid If You'll Let It Warm Weather Ideal Time to Care for
> Skin.   Chicago Daily Tribune,  July, 1931 LIFE SPAN OF 70 SEEN BY MAYO IN
> 25 YEARS: But 12-Year Gain Depends on Man's Self-Care Between 30 and 50,
> Says Physician   NYTimes, October 1931
>
>  REICH MAKES JEWS JOIN FOR SELF-CARE: All Placed in One Organization
> Running Schools and Relief   NYTimes, July, 1939
>
> --
> George A. Thompson
> The Guy Who Still Looks Stuff Up in Books.
> Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
> Univ. Pr., 1998.
>
> But when aroused at the Trump of Doom / Ye shall start, bold kings, from
> your lowly tomb. . .
> L. H. Sigourney, "Burial of Mazeen", Poems.  Boston, 1827, p. 112
>
> The Trump of Doom -- also known as The Dunghill Toadstool.  (Here's a
> picture of his great-grandfather.)
> http://www.parliament.uk/worksofart/artwork/james-gillray/an-excrescence---a-fungus-alias-a-toadstool-upon-a-dunghill/3851
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org