Soonest = as soon as

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 8/20/07, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 8/20/07, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
> >
> > At 8:44 PM -0400 8/20/07, Wilson Gray wrote:
> > >I agree with A. I've long heard "'soonest" in the meaning, "as soon as
> > >possible." I have the *very* vague impression that it started out as a
> > >Briticism. That is to say, I don't think that I've ever heard it in
> > >the wild, but I'm very familiar with it from TV and movies.
> >
> > I agree; more "ASAP" than "as soon as", and there's something of
> > telegraphese about it.
>
> Telegraphese? Precisely the term that I'd been searching for.

"Telegraphese" is what the OED calls it...

-----
soon, adv.
 III. In the superlative form soonest.
    14. a. Most quickly, readily, etc. Now freq. (orig. telegraphese),
as soon as possible.
[...]
1815 A. CONSTABLE Let. 29 Jan. in J. Constable's Corr. (1962) I. 113
The picture you request shall be sent per soonest. 1950 C. M.
KORNBLUTH in Mag. of Fantasy & Sci. Fiction I. 4 They needed a bright
and sparkling little news item..'soonest'. 1962 J. HAY in E. Queen's
16th Mystery Annual 163 'Bjornsson and whale to proceed soonest to
Regensburg and await further orders,' Twentypenny cabled Hawker. 1977
'E. CRISPIN' Glimpses of Moon xiii. 262 Come back to London soonest
prepare leave for Libya soonest terrorists blowing up all the oilwells
there. 1977 J. DIDION Book of Common Prayer II. xiv. 119 I'm getting
you together soonest, that's definite.
-----


--Ben Zimmer

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