Q: Coiner of "power nap"? (UNCLASSIFIED)

Wed Mar 17 19:11:32 UTC 2010

It's also, of course, unlikely that the New Yorker didn't mention the word "slang" until 1966.  Indeed, a search shows many pre-1966 usages starting in 1926.

Fred Shapiro

________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Mullins, Bill AMRDEC [Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL]
Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 3:00 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Q: Coiner of "power nap"? (UNCLASSIFIED)

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

It's unlikely that this article (from online Readers' Guide) didn't use
the word:

LARDNER, J. Onward and upward with the arts [Dictionary of American
underworld lingo]. The New Yorker v. 27 (December 1 1951) p. 101-2+

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 12:17 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Q: Coiner of "power nap"?
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
---------------
> --------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Q: Coiner of "power nap"?
>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> Note well: another search tells me that the NYer never once printed
the
> word
> "slang" till 1966.
>
> Likelihood?
>
> JL
>
> On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 1:12 PM, Jonathan Lighter
> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Q: Coiner of "power nap"?
> >
> >
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----------
> >
> > Perhaps surprisingly, a search of the New Yorker Archives reveals
> nothing
> > of
> > interest about "power nap" or "power napping," with or without the
> addition
> > of "Maas" or "Cornell."
> >
> > OTOH,  I get a slightly different list of hits for "power nap"
almost
> every
> > time I try, so I suppose it isn't entirely conclusive. But nothing
at
> all,
> > ever, for "Jim/James Maas."
> >
> >
> > JL
> > On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 12:09 PM, C.Braham/H.Hankin
> <hocaga at verizon.net
> > >wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       "C.Braham/H.Hankin" <hocaga at VERIZON.NET>
> > > Subject:      Re: Q: Coiner of "power nap"?
> > >
> > >
> >
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----------
> > >
> > > It's James (Jim) Maas, professor of Psychology at Cornell.
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Garson O'Toole" <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> > > To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 11:11 PM
> > > Subject: Re: Q: Coiner of "power nap"?
> > >
> > >
> > > > ---------------------- Information from the mail
> > > > header -----------------------
> > > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > > Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> > > > Subject:      Re: Q: Coiner of "power nap"?
> > > >
> > >
> >
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----------
> > > >
> > > > Joel S. Berson wrote
> > > >> On NPR just after the change to daylight savings time, there
was
> a
> > > >> piece about how to recover from the loss of sleep.  I heard a
> > > >> reference to a "Mott", or "Moch", or some such, at Cornell, who
> > > >> claimed to have coined the phrase "power nap".
> > > >>
> > > >> The OED draft rev. March 2010 has as its earliest "1986 Chicago
> > > >> Tribune (Nexis) 4 May 1 He attended a party until the wee
hours.
> He
> > > >> had a horse to work, so instead of catching a *power nap, he
> went
> > > >> directly to the barns at 4.30 a.m., replete in tuxedo and
> spats."
> > > >>
> > > >> Is Mr. M---'s claim supported?  (And did the horsy set at
> Cornell
> > > >> also party hard?)
> > > >>
> > > >> Or does "power nap" go back to 1936, in The New Yorker, Vol.
12,
> > > >> issue 2, page 80, col. 2, snippet view:
> > > >>
> > > >> Boulware is so drunk and so terrified that he collapses (or, as
> one
> > > >> of the policemen puts it, "is so boxed, his response is to take
> a
> > > >> little power nap on the sidewalk"), while Cash does the right
> thing
> > > >> and hands over his wallet.
> > > >
> > > > The novel Lush Life by Richard Price was reviewed in an issue of
> the
> > > > New Yorker dated April 7, 2008 (online). I think this text is
> from the
> > > > review (and the novel). Apparently this is another case of
faulty
> > > > metadata.
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/04/07/080407crbo_books
> _wood?currentPage=2
> > > >
> > > > Every text match in my search results to content in the New
> Yorker has
> > > > been incorrectly dated.
> > >  >
> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > > >
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
> >  ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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

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