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<div> One of the pleasant developments from the WSJ article on
Barry Popik yesterday is an e-mail I received pertaining to
"chad." The writer (Mr. Chris Jensen) remembers the word
from 1952 and directs attention to the US Army's teletype machines.
This jibes with the observations of Fred Shapiro to the already
noticed earliest attestation (1947) from the Merriam-Webster files.
Perhaps the most significant part of the e-mail is Mr. Jensen's
mentioning the manufacturer of the teletype machines (approximate
name; "The Teletype Corporation."). It's a lead to locating
who might have introduced "chad" into teletype jargon.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div> Here now is Mr. Jensen's Jan. 2 e-mail message,
followed by material on 1947 "chad" from notes I have made
in preparation for a "chad" compilation (no conclusive
etymology yet).</div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Arial" size="-1">If you are
interested in the word Chad and its origin, you might have
information pre-dating this, but if not:</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> </blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Arial" size="-1">I trained
in the US Army's teletype school in 1952. We pre-packaged the
messages we had to send onto paper tape. When we were satisfied with
our accuracy, we sent the message by "reading" the tape
through the same machine that perforated it.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> </blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Arial" size="-1">The paper
tape perforators came in two models, chad and chadless. The chad
perforators punched out the paper, leaving a hole. The chadless
perforators deliberately punched about 80% of the hole, leaving the
now-illreputed "hanging chad." Chadless was attractive
because we could edit it - patching in corrections in the form of
other chadless stretches of tape by making its hanging chad push
through the partial holes in the base document's tape. Sort of like
editing cellulose movie film, except without the
glue.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> </blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Arial" size="-1">Those
machines had been in the Army since shortly after World War II, if
not before. They were supplied by "The Teletype
Corporation." or some supplier like that. You might get more of
a 'final' answer from that corporation or its successor about where
they learned about the expression 'chad.'</font></blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>(from notes for a compilation, containing contributions of
various individuals; due credit will of course be given):</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Geneva" size="+2"
color="#000000"> 1947 (EARLIEST ATTESTATION) COMES FROM
MERRIAM-WEBSTER FILES<br>
<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>The earliest attestation for<u> chad</u>
is 1947 and comes from the files of Merriam-Webster. The following
[ADS-L] Nov. 20, 2000 message was sent by Joanne Despres
(jdespres@MERRIAM-WEBSTER.COM):<br>
<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>'...the 1947 citation for
"chad" in our files reads as follows:<br>
<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>"The sample tape shown in Figure 2 is of the form
produced by the<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>typing
reperforator. It is known as chadless tape because the<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>small discs, called chads, which are perforated
to form the code<br>
<x-tab>
</x-tab>combinations are not cut completely from the tape but are<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>perforated only
sufficiently to permit the chads to rise like small<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>hinged lids in response to
the sensing pins of a transmitter.<br>
<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>RCA Review<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Radio Corp. of America
Vol. 8 No. 3</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Geneva" size="+2"
color="#000000"><x-tab>
</x-tab>RCA Lab. Div. Sept. 1947</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br>
<font face="Geneva" size="+2"
color="#000000"><x-tab>
</x-tab>'This same citation also provides our earliest evidence
for</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Geneva" size="+2"
color="#000000">"chadless." Every other early source
I've looked at defines<br>
"chadless" in the same way, i.e., in terms of a
tape-punching<br>
method resulting in a lack of chads. The absence of any
reference<br>
to the name "Chadless" in these cites would seem to cast
doubt<br>
on the back-formation hypothesis posited as an explanation for<br>
"chad." Jim Rader mentioned to me that he'd
investigated this<br>
hypothesis some time ago by checking patent records for the<br>
name, but came up with nothing. The "perhaps"
derivation in W3<br>
from a Scots word meaning "gravel" appeared to him to
be pure<br>
guesswork.'<br>
<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>FRED
SHAPIRO LOOKS AT THE ABOVE 1947 QUOTE IN CONTEXT<br>
<x-tab>
</x-tab><x-tab>
</x-tab><x-tab>
</x-tab>(Nov. 21, 2000 ADS-L message)<br>
<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>For those of you who are eagerly awaiting
more findings in the Great Chad Quest, I have checked the original
source of the 1947 Merriam-Webster citation. The context does
not, alas, shed any further light on the<br>
etymological question. The one thing I glean from examining the
original<br>
article in the RCA Review is that the milieu of this earliest known
usage</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Geneva" size="+2"
color="#000000">is not computers, but rather radiotelegraphy.
(The second oldest source,<br>
the 1959 cite in the OED Addition Series, is also from a
telegraphy<br>
source.)<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>I also looked for other articles
mentioning "chad" in the RCA Review and other engineering
journals from the late 1940s, but found nothing.<br>
<br>
Fred Shapiro, Editor<br>
YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS, forthcoming.</font></blockquote>
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