Origin of "Gitmo" (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Jonathan Lighter]

I agree that use of the word is unlikely to antedate 1942. Guantanamo Bay
became more important during WWII than ever before, and the enormous
increase in size of the U.S. Navy and Marines after Pearl Harbor provided
more opportunities and creative minds to discuss it.

The base was hardly a secret before WWII, so I'd expect that some article
written about it would have mentioned the catchy form "Gitmo," had anyone
been using it.

JL


On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 1:59 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <
Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject:      Re: Origin of "Gitmo" (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
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>
> Another early cite:
>
> Andrew Lee [pseudo. For Louis Auchincloss] _The Indifferent Children_
> NY: Prentice-Hall, 1947.  p. 202
> "Going back to Gitmo to pick up cigarettes and movie magazines for the
> boys down there."
>
> Auchincloss had served in the Navy during WWII, so this probably exists
> at least that far back.
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> > Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
> > Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 11:11 AM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Origin of "Gitmo"
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> > --------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Origin of "Gitmo"
> >
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --------
> >
> > Bill Mullins reported a "Gitmo" from 1947.  The name became frequent
> in
> > the
> > media only during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Nor have I found
> it
> > in
> > fiction before that period.
> >
> > The word clearly derives from a pronunciation of the Anglo-Hispanic
> > abbr. of
> > "Guantanamo" rather than from some imaginitive wordplay. (Oxford
> > American
> > Dictionary reaches the same conclusion, but offers no cites: its
> > spelling
> > "GTMO," the current official form, suggests their evidence is more
> > recent
> > than most of the following.)
> >
> >
> > 1919 _Salubridad y Asistencia Social_ XXI 221 [Google Books]: Gtmo.
> > Sugar
> > Co.
> >
> > 1920 _A List, with Brief Records, of the Alumni and Students of
> > Hampden-Sidney College, Virginia, who Served in the World War_
> > (Richmond,
> > Va.: pvtly. ptd.) 54:  WHALEY, John Hughes (Ex. '18) : ... overseas 6
> > months
> > 7th Regiment, U. S. Marines, Cuba; 14 months Naval Dispensary, Gtmo.
> > Bay,
> > Cuba; 4 months U. S. S. Arkansas; promoted ph. m-1; discharged
> > Receiving
> > Ship, Washington, D. C, Aug. 5, 1919.
> >
> > 1933 _The Daily Gleaner_ (Kingston, Jamaica) (June 10) 2: IN MEMORIAM
> > In
> > loving memory of my beloved husband, Richard E. Johnston, who fell
> > asleep in
> > the Arms of Jesus on the 10th June, 1931 at Gtmo, Cuba.
> >
> > 1945 _Troy (N.Y.) Record_ (Apr. 12) 20: Having volunteered for foreign
> > duty,
> > she was sent to the GTMO Naval Base in Cuba at the end of her basic
> > training
> > [in 1943].
> >
> > JL
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > truth."
> >
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