antedates for 'alien' to mean "intelligent extraterrestrial creatures"

[Wilson Gray]

The A[lfred] E[arl] van Vogt Bibliography

<vanvogt.www4.mmedia.is/biblio.htm>

dates this title, _The Weapons Makers_, to 1946.

-Wilson

On 4/10/06, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject:      Re: antedates for 'alien' to mean "intelligent extraterrestrial
>               creatures"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Both of these are antedated in the OED SF project:
> noun:  http://www.jessesword.com/sf/view/10
> adj:  http://www.jessesword.com/sf/view/11
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society
> > [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Geoffrey Nunberg
> > Sent: Monday, April 10, 2006 3:02 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: antedates for 'alien' to mean "intelligent
> > extraterrestrial creatures"
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Geoffrey Nunberg <nunberg at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
> > Subject:      antedates for 'alien' to mean "intelligent
> > extraterrestrial
> >               creatures"
> > --------------------------------------------------------------
> > -----------------
> >
> > (The OED has this from 1953 in its noun use.)
> >
> > Noun use:
> >
> > The Weapon Makers A. E. van Vogt. Exciting story of a man who
> > dared pit himself against both the greatest powers of his
> > universe and the aliens of outer space. NY Times Display Ad, 3/2/52
> >
> > Adjectival use:
> >
> > In view of our sad inability even to unite mankind, it seems
> > extremely unlikely that man in his present state would
> > succeed in cooperating with alien races on other planets."
> > Man's Trip to Other Planets in Few Decades Predicted, LA
> > Times, 10/11/48
> >
> > Mr. Clement manages this admirably, altho his criminal is an
> > alien creature and his detective a similar creature
> > inhabiting the body and mind of a human boy. "A Detective
> > Tale Built on Science Line," by Fritz Leiber, Chicago Daily
> > Tribune, 4/2/50
> >
> > My guess is that it would be easy to find earlier cites in
> > the pulps, if only those were online.
> >
> > Geoff Nunberg
> >
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> >
>
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