"rookie" from "recruit"

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Sat, Jul 10, 2010 at 08:49:07AM -0400, Stephen Goranson wrote:
> OED: rookie slang. [Orig uncertain; perh. corruption of recruit n.] OED's earliest quotation is from 1892.
>
> December, 1891 {Google Books 1868 date mistaken], new series vol. LIV, page 87
> The Eclectic magazine of foreign literature, science, and art
>

Thanks. Our revised draft entry, which I assume will appear in
the next update, has an earliest quote of 1883.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org