Bikini (June 1947)

[Dave Wilton]

I was referring to the swimsuit. There are, of course, thousands of
citations for the name of the island in 1946.

The swimsuit was introduced at a Paris fashion show in July 1946, the name
chosen to take advantage of the publicity from the A-bomb tests and because
the same designer had introduced a similar suit months earlier dubbed the
"Atome" (because it was so small, not because it was related to nuclear
tests).


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Paul Johnson
Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2007 9:03 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Bikini (June 1947)

July 1946 Operation Crossroads,  A-Bomb tests on 6 square mile Bikini
Atoll.  How could that not be mentioned in a 1947 paper?

Dave Wilton wrote:

>The OED has an August 1947 for a citation in French and 1948 for English.
>
>>>From the Syracuse Herald Journal (New York) of 22 June 1947:
>
>First came the famous Bikini model, consisting of three small triangles of
>cloth.
>
>>>From the Nevada State Journal, 23 November 1947:
>
>Nobody knows why the word Bikini has become the synonym for small and
>little...The French double-piece bathing suits, consisting of a G-string
and
>another tiny piece for the upper part of the body, are called Bikini. If
you
>want a demi-tasse of ersatz coffee you ask for a Bikini...When the piece of
>meat you get in a restaurant is exceptionally small you complain that it
"is
>too Bikini."
>
>--Dave Wilton
>  dave at wilton.net
>
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