copasetic 1920 and Re: [ADS-L] copasetic, was Re: [ADS-L] Readex Newspapers

[Stephen Goranson]

Thank you Fred.
Below I neglected to give the Chicago Tribune citation, from ProQuest:
Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1922). Chicago, Ill.: Aug 21, 1920. p. 4 (1 page),
col.3.

Stephen

Quoting "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>:

> I checked America's Historical Newspapers, including the
> African-American newspapers, and didn't find anything earlier than
> 1919.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
>
> ________________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Stephen Goranson [goranson at DUKE.EDU]
> Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 7:54 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: copasetic 1920 and Re: [ADS-L] copasetic,              was
> Re: [ADS-L] Readex Newspapers
>
> "Copasetic" is earliest attested in a popular fictionalized biography
> of Abraham
> Lincoln. So the proposal here is that the use of "copasetic" was "picked up"
> ultimately from that best-selling book.
>
> The Chicago Tribune has what may be the earliest reported reuse after
> the uses
> in the 1919 book. Note that the 1920 use retains the 1919 spelling; spellings
> later (with oral transmission?) varied considerably.
>
> Chicago Tribune [provides a heading for a real classified ad in The Times,
> Thursday, Jul 22, 1920; pg. 4; Issue 42469; col B]
>
> A LINE O' TYPE OR TWO
> Hew to the Line, let the quips fall where they may
> ....
> VERY COPASETIC
> [From the London Times]
> Good position--French lady, cooks herself, speaks English, beautiful climate;
> exchange of money favourable; good references.Dejardin, 15, Porte Gayole,
> Boulogne
>
>
> Stephen
>
>
>
> Quoting Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>:
>
>> Stephen writes:
>>
>> "[_Copasetic_] was then picked up in African American use (especially,
>> early on, in New York)."
>>
>>
>> Does anyone have any idea of how this picking-up occurred?
>>
>> -Wilson
>>
>> On Sat, Jan 16, 2010 at 9:01 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>> -----------------------
>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster:       Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
>>> Subject:      copasetic, was Re: [ADS-L] Readex Newspapers
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> I, along with many others, searched for copasetic (and copesetic,
>>> copacetic,
>>> copecetic, kopasetee and so on) but have found nothing published
>>> before 1919,
>>> claimed memories notwithstanding.
>>>
>>> Searching included some use of Anatoly Liberman's helpful new A
>>> Bibliography of
>>> English Etymology (U. of Minnesota Press, 2010).
>>>
>>> One Google Books result I hadn't seen before is Michael Gold, "Hoboken
>>> Blues, or
>>> the Black Rip van Winkle" in The American Caravan, volume 1 (NY, 1927)
>>> 548-626.
>>> [confirmed in a paper copy]
>>>
>>> p.572
>>> Dat's copesetic, Barney; wow. (Cuts a caper.)
>>>
>>> p.579
>>> Ee-yah, copesetic!
>>>
>>> p.580
>>> Ain't it copesetic? (He stops in full flight for a second, looking
>>> at her for
>>> approval.)
>>>
>>> p.602
>>> Say, won't factories be jes copesetic?
>>>
>>> My hypotheses (detailed in the ads-l archives) is that Irving
>>> Bacheller, author
>>> of the widely-read A Man for the Ages (1919) coined the word. It was then
>>> picked up in African American use (especially, early on, in New York).
>>>
>>> So, Fred, yes, please, search African-African newspapers for copasetic
>>> (et sim.)
>>> as a test of the hypothesis. Thanks.
>>>
>>> The hypothesis can easily be falsified. I wonder, at what point (possible
>>> continued) negative pre-1919 results, along with the positive
>>> arguments (e.g.,
>>> the way Bacheller introduced and used copasetic, as well as
>>> coralapus) might
>>> lead to acceptance?
>>>
>>> Stephen Goranson
>>> http://www.duke.edu/~goranson
>>>
>>>
>>> Quoting "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>:
>>>
>>>> I have temporary access to the full range of Readex newspapers and
>>>> African-American newspapers.  If anyone has any terms or phrases they
>>>> want me to search, please let me know and I'll try my best.
>>>>
>>>> Fred Shapiro
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ________________________________________
>>>> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
>>>> Joel S. Berson [Berson at ATT.NET]
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2010 2:13 PM
>>>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>>> Subject: "African American Newspapers, 1827-1998"
>>>>
>>>> There appears to be a new offering via the New England Historic
>>>> Genealogical Society out of Readex's Archive of America (at least I
>>>> hadn't noticed it before today).  Listed now in addition to
>>>> "America's Historical Newspapers" [the NEHGS only subscribes to"Early
>>>> American Newspapers, Series 1, 1690-1876"] is "African American
>>>> Newspapers, 1827-1998".
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> -Wilson
>> –––
>> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
>> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>> –Mark Twain
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
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