[Ads-l] Query on Coinage of "Radar"

Fri Jan 29 19:18:11 UTC 2021

Comment about the date of the document: Below the Navy Department
header there is a date stamp which says "NOV 18 1940"; however, the
description below the document says the letter is "dated 19 Nov.
1940". So there may be another date on the document that is not
visible in the reproduction. Alternatively, the November 19 date is
incorrect.
Garson

On Fri, Jan 29, 2021 at 2:01 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Fred Shapiro, Fred wrote:
> >
> > This is a terrific response to my query, Stephen.  But I am struggling
> > to formulate a citation for the acronym usage in this document.
> > Where does the dating appear?  Is this reprinted anywhere?
> > The sentence toward the bottom where the acronym seems to
> > appear is largely unreadable -- is there a better copy or a transcription
> > of this letter anywhere?
>
> Great work, Stephen.
>
> Below is a Google Books link to a page within a report from the Naval
> Research Laboratory. The page reproduces the letter from November 19,
> 1940 signed by H. R. Stark.
>
> The bad news is that the digital reproduction of the reproduction is
> terrible. (Maybe someone can directly access the NRL report.) The good
> news is that the description below the reproduction contains the
> relevant information, i.e., the date and author. Further, the report
> can be cited. (Double check for typos and other errors.)
>
> Year: 1979
> Report Number: NRL Report 8300
> Title: Evolution of Naval Radio-Electronics and Contributions of the
> Naval Research Laboratory
> Author: Louis A. Gebhard
> Organization: Naval Research Laboratory, Washington D.C.
> Publisher: U.S. Government Printing Office
> Quote Page 170
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=hogeAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA170&
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> THE WORD "RADAR"
>
> The word "radar" was coined from "radio detection and ranging" one of
> the titles used by NRL for this field of work, by LCDR F.R. Furth and
> LCDR S.M. Tucker, who shared in responsibility for the Navy's original
> procurement program. LCDR Furth (later RADM Furth) and LCDR Tucker
> (later RADM Tucker), while on duty at the Navy Department, devised the
> acronym and took action to put it into effect. The above letter, dated
> 19 Nov. 1940, signed by ADM H.R. Stark, then the Chief of Naval
> Operations, made the word official.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> > ________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
> > Sent: Friday, January 29, 2021 10:40 AM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Subject: Re: Query on Coinage of "Radar"
> >
> > 18 November 1940
> > serial 069120
> >
> > SG
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
> > Sent: Friday, January 29, 2021 10:32 AM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Subject: Re: Query on Coinage of "Radar"
> >
> > Stack--Stark
> > ________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
> > Sent: Friday, January 29, 2021 10:31 AM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Subject: Re: Query on Coinage of "Radar"
> >
> > Letter from Adm. Stack directing the use of "Approved Abbreviation" RADAR:
> > https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.com%2Fv3%2F__https%3A%2F%2Fwww.radartutorial.eu%2F04.history%2Fpic%2Fletter*20stark.big.png__%3BJQ!!OToaGQ!6qbDDVmkY_ePRii3aD1FciOuxGRGs4dL2ibdLygDabfFYpIXqNkGmuMSKca3VJe-%24&data=04%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40yale.edu%7Ce51f1a386e8f4b41f04b08d8c46c2e06%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637475316191265523%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=7w6OTG9Fc%2F%2B7wny9%2FZrkI7ECgaKXcbD5D9waLH3OpC0%3D&reserved=0
> > [https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.com%2Fv3%2F__https%3A%2F%2Fwww.radartutorial.eu%2F04.history%2Fpic%2Fletter*20stark.big.png__%3BJQ!!OToaGQ!6qbDDVmkY_ePRii3aD1FciOuxGRGs4dL2ibdLygDabfFYpIXqNkGmuMSKca3VJe-%24&data=04%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40yale.edu%7Ce51f1a386e8f4b41f04b08d8c46c2e06%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637475316191265523%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=7w6OTG9Fc%2F%2B7wny9%2FZrkI7ECgaKXcbD5D9waLH3OpC0%3D&reserved=0 ]
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> > Sent: Friday, January 29, 2021 9:57 AM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Subject: Query on Coinage of "Radar"
> >
> > This is the kind of question that military buffs on this list might enjoy researching.  The term "radar" has a first use of October 1941 (from the New York Times) in the Oxford English Dictionary.  I think I was the one who contributed that citation to OED.  Various sources I have looked at say that the acronym was coined by the U.S. Navy in 1940.  Can anyone point me to publications using this term before October 1941?  Classified uses that were later reprinted or cited to would also be of interest to me.
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
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