Antedating of "Bell Curve"

[Fred Shapiro]

bell curve (OED 1970)

Within recent years a tendency has developed to require that the
distribution of efficiency ratings shall conform to the normal frequency
or bell curve of distribution.
        Lewis Meriam, Public Personnel Problems from the Standpoint of the
        Operating Officer 50 (1938) (Questia)

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
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