Pooch article

[Joanne M. Despres]

Not to butt in, but perhaps I should mention that "antedate" is the
term most frequently used at Merriam.  I tend to lean towards
"antedating" myself, probably because of all those years in grad
school soaking up academic and OED conventions, and for that
reason I often find myself in something of a moral quandary over
which term to use -- the "proper" and accepted one, or the one
used by those language libertines in Springfield who happen to pay
my salary.  I actually end up using both, justifying the
inconsistency within my conscience as an exercise in the fine old
art of elegant variation.  Others, I suppose, might regard it as trying
to please too many  people at once.  I admit that it's a bad habit of
mine.

Joanne



On 2 Sep 2003, at 16:05, Fred Shapiro wrote:

> On Tue, 2 Sep 2003, Kathleen E. Miller wrote:
>
> > First a question, is the New York Sun online and searchable anywhere?
>
> No, it's not, unfortunately.
>
> > Next, the article, not an antedate by any means, and it's not an opinion.
>
> Of course this list is the last place to prescribe usage, but it's worth
> pointing out that the usual term is "antedating."  Barry Popik and David
> Shulman and, I think, Gerald Cohen, use "antedate," but I've never seen
> anyone else do this (before you did).
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
> Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
>   Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press,
> Yale Law School                             forthcoming
> e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Joanne M. Despres, Senior Editor
Merriam-Webster, Inc.
jdespres at merriam-webster.com
http://www.merriam-webster.com