Antedating of "Hoodlum"

[Fred Shapiro]

On Thu, 27 Feb 2003, Imran Ghory wrote:

> 1871 _Daily Union_ (April 27):
> Kelly and Dunn, San Francisco "Hoodlums," who were arrested at San Jose
> at the Sarsfield guard picnic excursion on Sunday last, are doing duty in
> the chain gang on the streets of that city; which, together with the fact
> that a third "Hoodlum" got his throat cut by an Indian at the same place,
> gives great satisfaction to our citizens.
>
>
> Apparently there is an etymology of the word in American Notes and Queries
> (pp. 39. Volume 8. November 1891).

Thanks for this excellent information.  Can you tell us what the source
for the above is (I'm not questioning its reliability, I'm just curious)?

Fred Shapiro


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