Pastrami (1916);Yale Food Column gets NY Times mention; still no "hot dog" story

Jesse Sheidlower jester at PANIX.COM
Wed Jan 31 21:10:05 UTC 2007


On Wed, Jan 31, 2007 at 04:03:06PM -0500, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
> PASTRAMI
> ...
> Next time I'm in NYC, I've gotta check the New York Tribune  (1900-1910) for
> any "pastrami." This is the best the revised OED has?
> ...
> ...
>
> (OED)
>
> pastrami, n.
>
> orig. U.S.
> Forms: 19- pastrami, (rare)  pastrame. Plural  pastramis.
> Highly seasoned smoked beef, usually  served in thin slices; (as count noun)
> a serving of this, esp. as a filling in a  sandwich. Later also in extended
> use: other meat or fish prepared in a similar  manner.
> 1920  N.Y. Tribune 31  Jan. 12/5, I would have..said: ‘Give me ten cents
> pastrami,’ so  as not to let on that I suspected something.
> ...
> ...
> 16 January 1916, Syracuse (NY)  Herald, pg. 5:
> "Even so, Zapp, there's lots of fellers in the delicatessen  business which
> is obliged to run automobile deliveries, and for every penny  they've got to
> pay more on gasoline, they stick two cents a pound on pastrami  oder
> Frankfurters.

This quote is already in the OED database and should
presumably appear in an update at some point; I'm not
sure why it hasn't appeared in OED Online yet.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

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