The Y

[Jonathan Lighter]

During the First World War there was no USO. The YMCA therefore became one of a number of social-service organizations that set up recreational facilities for U.S. soldiers.  Unlike the Red Cross and most others, however, the Y generally charged for their coffee, snacks, and so forth - even close to the front. So familiar was the semi-initialism "the Y" in  1917-18 that after the war, when Katherine Mayo wrote a book in praise of the organization's acomplishments, she called it _That Damned "Y"_ (Boston: Hioughton-Mifflin, 1920).

  JL


Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Jesse Sheidlower
Subject: Re: The Y
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On Sun, Dec 16, 2007 at 05:00:00PM -0600, Scot LaFaive wrote:
> I was reading Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" and noticed his use of
> The Y for the YMCA. Apparently the story was written in 1931. Just how old
> is The Y? Can't check HDAS yet...

Dunno, but OED has a 1915 example from _Dialect Notes_.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

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