gitmo

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Mon, 30 May 2005 12:00:33 -0400, Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at NB.NET> wrote:

>>... Is there any chance that this is a false hit ?
>
>Looks OK to me.
>
>>Gitmo -- not in OED -- HDAS has 1959 -- (Navy) slang for Guantanamo Bay
>>
>>"Home on Leave" Indiana, PA _Indiana Evening Gazette_ 1949-08-26, p. 8
>>col 3.
>>"Before coming home, Midshipman Balint went on a summer cruise for seven
>>and one-half weeks with a
>>week's stopover in England and several weeks in Gitmo, Cuba."

I can't beat Doug's 1949 cite, but here are a few from the early '50s:

-----
Lime Springs Herald (Iowa), Aug 16, 1951, p. 5, col. 3
After reforming the group of ships they sailed for Gitmo, Cuba, where
gunnery practice was given the middies, then returned to Norfolk.
-----
Chicago Tribune, Feb 17, 1952, p. N1 (photo caption)
Smoke stained instructors O.E. Trammell (left) and Carl E. Wippo check
schedule as "Gitmo," Cuban belle, looks on. Dog was given slang name for
Guantanamo Bay, where pet hails from.
-----
Gettysburg Times (Pa.), Oct 19, 1954, p. 1, col. 2
We flew aboard the Constellation "Aquila" from Norfolk to Jacksonville,
Fla., and after a two-hour stopover on to Gitmo Bay (Navy slang and
brevity for Guantanamo).
-----


--Ben Zimmer