bad rap

[victor steinbok]

The "rep" citation gave me an idea to look at "rap", particularly "bad rap".

rap, n.2

>  9. colloq. (orig. N. Amer.). A reputation, a reported opinion; talk, gossip. Freq. with modifying word, esp. bad.

1966ff

This sounds rather late. I thought it would have developed in WWII,
but I was wrong too:

http://goo.gl/ZsgMr
Lawrence Journal-World - Aug 18, 1936
Murder His Claim. Missouri Convict Reiterates He Killed Mrs. S. O.
Netherton. p. 1/4
> "My only reason for making this confession," he continued, "is that just as I said before, I want to help get an innocent man out of prison. I think Dr. Netherton was given a bad rap and should be sent home to his family. You know he has a daughter."

The amazing thing is that the store is dated the same day--I guess, it
was an evening paper. There is no doubt about either the expression or
the date--other front-page stories involve Mussolini and the Spanish
Fascists, Roosevelt staying "close to Washington" because of
"uncertainty in Europe", etc. Besides, the date is right there on the
masthead.

An even earlier citation shows up in PQ:

The Lively Arts
Pay-Per-View - Hartford Courant - ProQuest Archiver - Mar 6, 1936
... Russian music Dmitry has received a bad rap from the MoscowPravda
critic and is being probed by the Soviet Composers UnionPravda is the
Communist Party ...

And another a few months later:

SOMEONE TO LOVE
Pay-Per-View - Daily Boston Globe - ProQuest Archiver - Feb 6, 1937
... happy now instead of in mess and all confused as you say The
papers gave me pretty bad rap for getting turned down after rd got the
license didnt they ...


I have no subscription, so I could not verify these. But there is
enough context in the previews to show that they are legit, as long as
the date is cited correctly. So there is no doubt, then, that these
were not isolated incidents.

This is more, however, than I can say about an earlier occurrence in GB!

http://goo.gl/3W6cW
The Advance. Vol. 61: 2372. April 20, 1911
The Frontiersman. By H. A. Cody. p. 18(498)/3
> "It's hard luck for the kid," he heard one say. "He was a sharp 'un, and well miss him."
> "My God I it's a bad rap, that," replied another.
> "But he pulled his gun first, when he thought Bill was cheating, though he was too late, and there he lies."

Had this not showed up in the search, I might have had more reason to
doubt the dating of the independently published volume of The
Frontiersman:

http://goo.gl/BejAl
The Frontiersman. By Hiram Alfred Cody. New York: 1910
p. 118
[same text as above]


Even more bizarre is another cite:

http://goo.gl/mOtXu
Our world: or, The slaveholder's daughter By Francis Colburn Adams. 1855
Chapter 22. p. 270
> Looking at the receipt again, and then at his preacher, " Guess 'hain't made a bad rap on ye' to-day !" he ejaculates, taking out his pocket-book and laying away the precious paper as carefully as if it were a hundred dollar note.


Both the 1910/1 and the 1855 have undoubtedly correct dates--what's
suspect is that the usage might be the same as the contemporary one.
The reason I am concerned about this, is because the meaning of "bad
rap", may well just be a "bad knock or slap", as it is in the 1913
citation:

http://goo.gl/jD4uD
The Scarlet Rider. By Bertha Runkle. 1913
Chapter 11. p. 170
> "No, it happened on the frigate. I was knocked senseless. They put in to Portsmouth to give me a Christian burial. However, 't was no such bad rap after all, and here I am three days later, fine as a fiddle."


Now, why did I think that the phrase "bad rap" might have originated
in WWII? The way I learned it--don't recall how--was that it was a
contraction of "bad rapport". For example, here's one from 1955:

http://goo.gl/ucMTU
The Afro American - Nov 16, 1957
Integration. p. 3/3
...
Faubus schemes and Griffin plots.
Public seating in bad rapport,
Economic boycotts come to the fore.
Tanks at Clinton a quasi fort,
Dynamite in Tennessee a vindictive sport.
...

OED, on the other hand, puts it in the same category as "rap on the
knuckles" and "rap (music)".

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list.

VS-)

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