some WOTY candidates, and others

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 23:29:42 -0500, Alice Faber <faber at HASKINS.YALE.EDU>
wrote:

>--On Thursday, December 30, 2004 9:53 PM -0500 Laurence Horn
><laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> wrote:
>
>> facebook, v. 'to look someone up/check someone out in Yale's online
>> facebook or at www.thefacebook.com'  (the noun is a couple of years
>> old, but the verb is new)
>
>If by "a couple" you mean 35+ years...(we had a facebook at Cornell in the
>fall of 1970)

Even in a strictly Yalensian context, "facebook" was the common term for
the student directory in the late '80s/early '90s.  I don't recall the
verb being used in those pre-Web days, but it looks like it's at least
five years old...

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http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=1658
Published Saturday, July 31, 1999
Every college, as well as the entire freshman class, has a dance in which
roommates set each other up, and devise creative ways for the couple to
meet, often after hours of facebooking.
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http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=17021
Published Tuesday, November 6, 2001
For administrators, "facebook" is a noun. For students, it is a verb, and
an active one at that.
Providing endless hours of eye candy (and some useful information), the
online facebook has become the new "hook-up" Bible for many Yalies.
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http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=20972
Published Friday, November 22, 2002
Garland Jackson, if you're reading this, we know you're not a Yale student
because we facebooked you.
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--Ben Zimmer (DC 92)