"(speech) balloon", as in the comics

[Baker, John]

        The air balloon, thought to be the model for "speech balloon,"
dates back only to 1783, so it seems quite unlikely that "speech
balloon" was used any earlier than that, even though "balloon" was used
in other senses prior to that time.  I'm pretty sure that Griffy was
referring to speech balloons themselves (which, as claimed, date back at
least to the 18th century), and not to the term.


John Baker



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Joel S. Berson
Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2010 3:07 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: "(speech) balloon", as in the comics

Today Griffy, of the comic strip, says, "Speech balloons have been
around for almost 300 years, Zippy!"

The OED's earliest quotation is "1843    Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit."

Is Griffy wrong by 100+ years, or have we not found something?  (Of
course, the balloons may have been around for a while before they
were called "balloons".)  I've asked Zippy ... but his mental
capacity may not be up to an answer.

Joel

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