Antedating of "Gerrymander"

[Fred Shapiro]

This is an antedating of only a few days, but it is highly important in
view of the fact that this is one of the most celebrated Americanisms.


gerrymander (OED 1812 [23 May], DA 1912 [2 Apr.])

1812 _Salem Gazette_ 27 Mar. 2 (Early American Newspapers)  The
Gerrymander District.  The Legislature having left their
illegally-begotten child (our Senatorial district) without a name, people
have been puzzled how or what to call it; till at length a name is fixed
to it by the discovery in the county of Essex of a horrid monster, which
the learned Dr. Watergruel is of opinion belongs to the Salamander tribe;
... as it is not a perfect Salamander in all its members, he has decreed,
in compliment to his Excellency, that its name shall be the _Gerrymander_;
and this furnishes a name for our district, which will henceforth be known
as the _Gerrymander District_.  The Boston Gazette contains a drawing of
this hideous monster.

Fred Shapiro


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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
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