query--("next to nobody")

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Sep 17, 2006, at 2:37 PM, Cohen, Gerald Leonard wrote:

> I see I didn't express myself clearly. What I meant was that "next
> to nothing" may have arisen first, maybe 10, 20 (I really have no
> idea) years prior to "next to nobody."  Once "next to nothing"
> arose, "next to nobody" was formed by analogy to it. This is of
> course speculation.

we don't have to speculate.  we can look a what the OED (2003) has:

1596 next to nought
1956 next to nothing
1706 next to nothing
1826 next to no use
1849 next to none
1885 next to nothing
1908 next to no time
1957 next to no time
1985 next to no traffic

so: let the hounds of antedating press their noses to "next to nobody"!

arnold, very much not an etymologist or a lexicographer

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