baseball cursing, 1898

[Benjamin Zimmer]

Languagehat and Metafilter report on an extremely interesting 1898
document held by Robert Edward Auctions, outlining an anti-cursing
policy for baseball. It is entitled "Special Instructions To Players"
and warns against "the use of obscene language by players at the
ballpark, to intimidate umpires and opposing players, and to verbally
battle with unfriendly fans." It is marked "unmailable" because of the
examples of obscenities included.

Robert Edwards Auction blog post:
http://s210975194.onlinehome.us/blog/?p=41
Image:
http://s210975194.onlinehome.us/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/05567.JPG

Languagehat:
http://www.languagehat.com/archives/002957.php
Metafilter:
http://www.metafilter.com/67096/1898-baseball-cursing-policy-amply-illustrated

I'll leave it to the experts to tally up the antedatings.


--Ben Zimmer

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