TAD = Thomas Aloysius Dorgan (cartoonist)

[Gerald Cohen]

     TAD was the way cartoonist Thomas Aloysius Dorgan signed his
works. And note Jonathan Lighter's introduction to his _Historical
Dictionary of American Slang_, in which he comments about Leonard
Zwilling's study of TAD:
    "Zwilling, Leonard. _A TAD Lexicon_, in _Etymology and Linguistic
Principles III, edited by Gerald Cohen, Rolla, Mo: Gerald Cohen 1993.
An inclusive glossary of the innovative slang and nonce vocabulary
found in the work of Thomas A. Dorgan  ('TAD') (1877-1929), a
nationally syndicated cartoonist of the early twentieth century whose
comic art helped popularize a number of slang expressions, including
'malarkey,' 'hard-boiled,' and 'kibitzer.' Informative introductory
chapters, extensive dated citations from Dorgan's work and cross
references to the OED and other standard sources."

     TAD, by the way, is still frequently credited with coining "hot
dog" via his supposed Polo Grounds "hot dog" cartoon of the early
1900s. That cartoon never existed and has therefore never been
located; and "hot dog" was in use already in college slang of the
mid-1890s, well before TAD's 1904 arrival in NYC from San Francisco.

     I was honored to play a role in disseminating Zwilling's work on TAD.
Also, I am grateful to  Dennis for asking about the acronym and
thereby giving me the opportunity to talk about the subject.

--Gerald Cohen


On 12/29/01, Dennis R. Preston wrote:
>Does this mean a little bitty ole one?
>
>dInIs (citing the only TAD he knows, although he reckons he'll be
>blasted for this ignorance of acronyms; I wish there was a Barhardt
>American Dictionary)
>
>  >  Jonathon Green's CASSELL DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN SLANG (1998) has "19C, US"
>>and "? broken English 'spikka da English.'"  What cites does he have??--ed.)
>>>
>>
>>To date, other than this, a TAD one for 1908 (thanks to L. Zwilling).
>>
>>JG
>
>--
>Dennis R. Preston