antedating and postdating "concertina wire"

[Jonathan Lighter]

OED 1919.
 
1916-17 Bernard Adams _Nothing of Importance_ (London: Methuen) 113: They made up "concertina" or "gooseberry" wire by day and were out three or four hours every night putting it out.
 
All the OED exx. refer to WWI, but the term was well-known to Americans during the Vietnam War, when rolls of razor wire were commonly so called.
 
"Gooseberry wire," however, appears to be unique .
 
JL
 




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