Antedating of "Bell Curve"

[Robert Fitzke]

In the 40s at Notre Dame and Western Michigan U. these folks were known as
DARs (Damned Average Raisers)

Bob
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wilson Gray" <wilson.gray at RCN.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, April 09, 2005 10:12 PM
Subject: Re: Antedating of "Bell Curve"


> Interesting. I've never heard or read "curve-buster" before. As I
> recall it, curve-breaking was something that mattered - in the early
> '50's, at least - only in secondary-school math classes, in which the
> highest grade scored on a test in a subject like advanced college
> algebra might be as low as 75%. In such a case, a grade of 67%, after
> it had been curved on the basis of a high grade of only 75%, might turn
> out to be a C+ or even a B-. However, if there was someone in the class
> who either had studied or had a talent for math, he might score 97%,
> thereby "breaking" the curve and reducing a grade of 67% to an F. In
> other classes, asking a teacher whether s/he graded on the curve was
> just kidding around, since everyone knew that  the grading was strictly
> WYSIWYG, so to say, in all other subjects.
>
> In short, a curve-breaker was someone who got such a high score on a
> math test that *not even* grading on the curve would help me, uh, I
> mean, the low-scorers.
>
> -Wilson
>
> On Apr 9, 2005, at 8:34 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: Antedating of "Bell Curve"
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> --------
>>
>> Wilson, the word I know is "curve-buster." It means somebody who does
>> so well on a test that the prof won't "grade on the curve."  I may
>> have had only one exx., so it might not be in HDAS.
>>
>> Is this the same as "curve-breaker"?
>>
>> JL
>>
>> Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>> Poster: Wilson Gray
>> Subject: Re: Antedating of "Bell Curve"
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> --------
>>
>> On Apr 7, 2005, at 4:19 PM, Fred Shapiro wrote:
>>
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>> -----------------------
>>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>>> Poster: Fred Shapiro
>>> Subject: Antedating of "Bell Curve"
>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> -
>>> --------
>>>
>>> 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
>>
>> Good eye, Fred! The term has to be older than 1970. People were already
>> talking about the bell curve, breaking the curve, and curve-breakers
>> when I was in high school in the '50's.
>>
>> -Wilson
>>
>>>
>>>
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>>> 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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>>
>>
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