Antedating of "Political Correctness"

Joel S. Berson Berson at ATT.NET
Fri Jul 21 18:55:33 UTC 2006


At 7/21/2006 12:02 PM, you wrote:
>political correctness (OED 1979)
>
>1805 _The Witness_ (Litchfield, Conn.) 25 Sept. 3 (America's Historical
>Newspapers)  The constitution presumes that the people are the judges of
>political correctness, and has accordingly left the decision to them.
>
>Fred Shapiro

Isn't this more a literal use of "correctness" -- here perhaps
meaning "correct actions by politicians" -- than the "advocacy of or
conformity to politically correct views; politically correct language
or behaviour" of the OED?  Or does "politically correct behavior"
encompass the 1805 use?  Or does the OED need to separate mingled senses?

Joel

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list