[sic] of the day: earmarks

[Joel S. Berson]

 From OED2 for "earmark": "2. transf. and fig. A
‘stamp’, mark of ownership, identifying mark."

On the other hand, for "hallmark":

"a. The official mark or stamp used by statutory
Hall-marking Authorities in marking the standard
of gold and silver articles assayed by them,
without which articles of these metals may not legally be sold.

"b. fig. A distinctive mark or token of
genuineness, good breeding, or excellence."  Earliest citation 1577–87.

a.above does not apply, and an FBI director
presumably would not want al-Qaida to acquire the positive connotations of b.

Does "earmark" retain today any of the negative
associations that it might have had in the days
when convicted criminals could  have had an ear
docked (or entirely removed)?  These two
citations for sense b. are suggestive, although
there are none from the 18th century at all--the
century ignored by the OED.  The 1670 quote makes
me wonder whether the Bible calls for notching an ear.

"1622 R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 67 We should
see foure, five, and more, which had, as it were,
our eare~marke; one hurt upon the backe, another
neere the tayle, another about the fynnes.  1670
Brooks Wks. (1867) VI. 99 God makes this the
ear-mark of his people, that they are children that will not lie."

Joel


At 8/11/2006 04:13 AM, you wrote:
>Chris Waigl quoted from the Guardian:
>
> > FBI director Robert Mueller says: "This had the earmarks [sic] of an
> > al-Qaida plot"
>
>My paper copy of today's Guardian hasn't yet arrived but when it does I'll
>check if it's there. If I'd read "earmarks" unwarned, I would certainly
>have marked it: the usage would look to me like an error for "hallmark".
>
>
>--
>Michael Quinion
>Editor, World Wide Words
>E-mail: wordseditor at worldwidewords.org
>Web: http://www.worldwidewords.org
>
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