Antedating of "Gangster"

Tue Feb 17 01:57:45 UTC 2004

gangster (OED 1896)

1888 _Portsmouth_ (Ohio) _Times_ 11 Aug. 2/2 (Newspaperarchive.com)  THE
story that the TIMES man is delinquent for water rent is too improbable
even for a gangster to believe.  We have paid our water rent in advance.
To falsely report citizens delinquent will not help the gang.

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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------