Is That an Emoticon in 1862? in NYT

[Joel S. Berson]

Thanks; Jon, I don't have access to the databases from home (I think;
I'm not even sure what databases to look in for the 19th century,
since I stick mostly to the 18th).  Google wasn't very forthcoming
searching for ",)" (in quotes) -- I don't think they understand it!

I see now that I misinterpreted the parenthetical phrase.  It is not
something Lincoln said, but an interpolation by the transcriber.  So
I take the printing as part error, part 1229th century style.  It
used parentheses instead of the square brackets used later.  And it
punctuated the parenthetical insertion with a semicolon, like the
style of the era, because a portion of Lincoln's sentence follows
it.  (The "[Renewed applause.]" insertion just below is punctuated
with a period because it follows the period at the end of Lincoln's sentence.)

I have added to the blog.

Joel

At 1/19/2009 08:14 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>Joel, I think if you look closely at the databases you'll see it was  very
>  common in those days to leave a space before a semicolon - or a question
>mark or an exclamation mark for that matter.
>
>Books published before ca1910 often put a space in the "middle" of
>contractions too, e.g., "did n't."
>
>JL
>
>On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 7:42 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > Subject:      Re: Is That an Emoticon in 1862? in NYT
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Neither an emoticon nor a mistake, I would hazard, but just a
> > coincidence that is humourous to 20th-century readers.  It was, I
> > think, common through at least the early 19th century to include a
> > comma both before and within a parenthetical expression.
> >
> > Since I've been reading a lot of Hawthorne, the first physical
> > example that I bring to hand and eye is his 1849 "Main Street" -- not
> > too long before Lincoln's inauguration:  "Unless something should go
> > wrong,---as, for instance the misplacing of a picture ... which would
> > bring the course of time to a sudden period,---barring, I say the
> > casualties to which such a complicated piece of mechanism is liable
> > ...".  (Ohio State Centenary Edition, Vol. 11, _The Snow Image and
> > Uncollected Tales_, p. 50.)  Another example, in the 1833 "The
> > Canterbury Pilgrims":  "At all events I did fail, and you see me here
> > on my road to the Shaker village, where, doubtless, (for the Shakers
> > are a shrewd sect,) they will have a due respect for my experience
> > ..."  (page 127).
> >
> > I suspect one will not find examples for Hawthorne, and perhaps other
> > writers of his time, on the Web -- editors may have "modernized" such
> > quaint punctuation in later print and scanned or transcribed editions.
> >
> > In the transcription of Lincoln's speech, I see a short pause in the
> > comma before the opening parenthesis; and I see a longer pause in the
> > semicolon before the closing parenthesis, a longer pause which
> > suitably precedes the longer pause of an "and".  Modern punctuation
> > would omit the comma before the opening parenthesis, as well, and
> > simply put a comma after the closing parenthesis.
> >
> > In the article cited by Grant, only James Simon comes close.  He is
> > first quoted as saying "But looking further down the page, there were
> > more examples that other punctuation was within brackets." But he
> > later is quoted saying ""It may be a rare but archaic practice not
> > seen today."  I think it was not rare in the 19th century.  (I must
> > admit, however, that I don't have a provable explanation for the
> > space before the semicolon.)
> >
> > Joel
> >
> >
> > At 1/19/2009 06:14 PM, Grant Barrett wrote:
> > >Our own Fred Shapiro is quoted in this article about whether a
> > >semicolon next to a close parenthesis in 1862 is an emoticon or a
> > >mistake.
> > >
> > >http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/19/hfo-emoticon/
> > >
> > >>In the transcription of President Lincoln's speech, which added
> > >>comments about applause and shouts from the audience was this line:
> > >>
> > >>"...there is no precedent for your being here yourselves, (applause
> > >>and laughter ;) and I offer, in justification of myself and you,
> > >>that I have found nothing in the Constitution against."
> > >>
> > >>Bryan Benilous, who works with historical newspapers at Proquest,
> > >>said the team felt the ";)" after the word "laughter" was an
> > >>emoticon, more than a century before emoticons became a widespread
> > >>concept.
> > >
> > >Grant Barrett
> > >gbarrett at worldnewyork.org
> > >
> > >------------------------------------------------------------
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> >
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> >
>
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