Snasu (Situation normal: all screwed up) (1941 Aug 18) (early snafu variant)

[Shapiro, Fred]

Jesse,

Thanks for the correction on the date.

This shows that old-fashioned "manual" research, particularly research by Barry Popik, can still trump the databases.  Barry used the Library of Congress California newspaper index, apparently looking for articles on slang, to find this.

Fred




________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Jesse Sheidlower [jester at PANIX.COM]
Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2009 6:53 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Snasu (Situation normal: all screwed up) (1941 Aug 18) (early              snafu variant)

It's June 15, not July 15.

According to my records, I actually got this from Barry, who
posted it on ADS-L back in 2002:

http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0211E&L=ADS-L&P=R2

As so often, Barry's the one deserving the credit.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

On Tue, Dec 08, 2009 at 06:37:18AM -0500, Shapiro, Fred wrote:
> OK, I figured it out.  The July 15, 1941 _snafu_ citation is in the recently published 3rd edition of Jesse Sheidlower's masterwork, _The F Word_.  Presumably it was found through a ProQuest search.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
>
> ________________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Garson O'Toole [adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM]
> Sent: Monday, December 07, 2009 11:52 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Snasu (Situation normal: all screwed up) (1941 Aug 18) (early              snafu variant)
>
> Fred Shapiro wrote:
> > Note that I found a July 27, 1941 citation for _snafu_ in the Kansas City Star,
> > then someone else (I forget who!) found a July 15, 1941 citation in the San
> > Francisco Chronicle.
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
>
> The July 27, 1941 citation you found is grand and fun to read. Thanks.
> I apologize for missing it in the ADS list archive when I checked.
> There were quite a few hits for Snafu. However, the search term "snafu
> antedating" does locate your posting.
>
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0608D&L=ADS-L&P=R2709
>
> I am still having trouble locating a mention of the July 15, 1941
> citation in the ADS list archive. A search at Barry Popik's website
> failed. Wikipedia has the OED cite. In any case, congratulations to
> that discoverer.
>
> Garson
>
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