POTUS & SCOTUS (1918); Old Indigestible; Oxford American Dictionary

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POTUS & SCOTUS

A KANSAN IN NEW YORK
by Frank P. MacLennan
Editor and Publisher,
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Crane & Co.
Topeka, Kansas
1918

Pg. 123:
   ...I gave a few illustrations of the speed of the Associated Press in transmitting news.
   For instance: the word "scotus" is probably the most notable of the code words, which when transmitted over the wires of the Associated Press means "supreme court of the United States;" the word "potus" means "president of the United States;" "ogt"--those three letter when translated is the clause "on the ground that;" and the telegraph operator must be able not only to read this code instantly, but must put it on the typewriter so fast that he will not miss the next word, so that the news the operator receives is put on the copy sheets clear, complete and readable.  For example: the word "pips" means "Philippine Islands;" "cgl" means "congressional;" "lgn" "legislation."

(Jonathan Lighter and William Safire both wrote about POTUS/SCOTUS within the last three years--ed.)

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OLD INDIGESTIBLE

A MOLE'S-EYE VIEW OF NEW YORK
by Democritus Haschid (pseud.--ed.)
Boston
Charles T. Branford Company
1941

Pg. 244:
   "OLD INDIGESTIBLE"
   This baptismal was long ago bestowed on _The Times_ by the Subway Ladies, who shun it.

("Old Gray Lady" as a nickname of the NEW YORK TIMES is not here.  See the ADS-L archives, where I traced that to HARPER'S in the 1950s--ed.)

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OXFORD AMERICAN DICTIONARY

   GOTHAM is a new magazine that premiered yesterday.  It's a big glossy with large photos of already overexposed people.  The magazine fills the void that is not covered by the NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, NEW YORKER, NEW YORK, TIME OUT NEW YORK, VILLAGE VOICE, NEW YORK PRESS, NEW YORK OBSERVER, MANHATTAN FILE...
   A local television news broadcast hyped Spike Lee's brief GOTHAM article, which speculated that Babe Ruth might have been partly black.  (This story is 80 years old.)
   Spike Lee said he reached for a definition from his "trusty Oxford American Dictionary."
   I could write a letter to the editor...nah, I'll let Jesse do it.