Antedating of American "Football"
Laurence Horn
laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Fri Apr 15 02:51:56 UTC 2011
At 7:47 PM -0400 4/14/11, William Palmer wrote:
>The hell with football, let's hear some more about "tetotaciously"
>
>Bill P
and "knocked up"
LH
>
>On Thu, Apr 14, 2011 at 4:24 PM, George Thompson
><george.thompson at nyu.edu>wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster: George Thompson <george.thompson at NYU.EDU>
>> Subject: Re: Antedating of American "Football"
>>
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> We had our foot ball on the Green today and were just beginning to
>> enjoy some good sport with it, when the old Praeses put his veto on it and
>> knocked up our sport tetotaciously.
>> George Templeton Strong, Diary, ed. Allan Nevins & Milton Halsey
>> Thomas. New York: Macmillan, 1952, I:65, entry of May 23, 1837. [scene is
>> Columbia College, then near NY City Hall]
>>
>> There are quite a number of references to "playing ball", "ball games", &c,
>> in the U. S. from the early 19th c, and indeed the 18th c, but,
>> irresponsibly, most do not give enough detail to show whether the ball was
>> being hit with a bat, kicked or thrown.
>>
>> GAT
>>
>> George A. Thompson
>> Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
>> Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately. Working on a new edition, though.
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>> Date: Thursday, April 14, 2011 12:09 pm
>> Subject: Re: Antedating of American "Football"
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>
>> > Following in the (base) path, or foot steps, of John Thorn, and
>> > wondering how soon U.S. newspapers reported the "first match of the
>> > [first?] season" --
>> >
>> > The question of when "American football" started is definitely beyond
>> > my untangling. Simplifying [!], Wikipedia's article "History of
>> > American football" starts with varieties of English "mob football";
>> > the banning of football at Yale and Harvard in 1860 and 1861; the
>> > "Boston game" and its "Oneida Football Club" of 1862; and the revival
>> > of intramural football in the late 1860s. Progressing to
>> > "Intercollegiate football", it discusses Rutgers--Princeton (1869),
>> > "played with a round ball under "Football Association" rules (i.e.
>> > soccer) but [] often regarded as the first game of intercollegiate
>> > football"; rules standardization in 1873--1880; and finally Walter
>> > Camp and his 11-man team, "line of scrimmage", and "snap" to the
>> > quarterback, adopted in 1880.
>> >
>> > So was the game named in Fred's 1873 citation "American
>> > football"? The question is not, I think, facetious -- although
>> > perhaps pointless, since between 1862 (the Oneida Club year) and 1880
>> > (Walter Camp's year), 19th Century U.S. Newspapers has 629 quotations
>> > for "football"! Finding quotations that actually say anything about
>> > the rules seems like the proverbial haystack. I only looked for/at:
>> >
>> > 1808 -- the earliest hit for "football", which happens to be figurative.
>> > "football" + "Oneida" -- the earliest hit is 1898, from Milwaukee.
> > > "football" + "Boston" -- the earliest hit is 1887, from [doh] Boston
>> > (University).
>> > 1873 -- a couple below.
>> > "football" + "camp" -- the earliest hit is 1889, an interview with
>> > Walter after Yale's defeat.
>> > "American football" (as phrase) -- the earliest hit is 1885; this
>> > plus 1889 (as far as I went) are perhaps useful (see (0) below).
>> >
>> > Citations all from 19th C. U.S. Newspapers.
>> >
>> > (0) "American football" [here adjectival], s.v. "American, n. and
>> > adj.", interdates OED2 1879 -- 1943
>> >
>> > (0A) 1885 --
>> >
>> > World of Sport.
>> > [continued from Second Page]
>> > ...
>> > The football controversy continues to flourish. C. J. Williams, an
>> > English amateur athlete and football player of great experience and
>> > who is now captain of the Chicago football club, gives his experience
> > > with American football players as follows. "On November 22 last," he
>> > writes, "I took a team of English Rugby football players to Ann
>> > Arbor, Mich., to play the University at that place. We played under
>> > the American Intercollegiate rules and had about the roughest game I
>> > ever played, and I have played the game for over twenty years. As the
>> > Harvard committee very justly remark, 'International off-side play
>> > and unlawful interference with opponents who were not running with
>> > the ball were the rule rather than the exception," ..."
>> >
>> > [The rest of the article does not imply anything more about the
>> > rules, only describing the "savage" play but the "gentlemanly" players.]
>> >
>> > Rocky Mountain News, (Denver, CO) Monday, February 02, 1885; pg. 2
>> > [continuation presumably on page 3]; col A [in continuation of
>> > article, 2nd col.]
>> >
>> > (0B) 1889 --
>> >
>> > Football Next. / The Game as Played by American Students. [By Edward
>> > Bunnell Phelps.]
>> >
>> > ["American football organization" appears in the first column. The
>> > article goes on with a lengthy discussion of the playing field and
>> > rules, calling it "a rough description of the American game of
>> > football". The description has Camp's eleven players, scrimmage
>> > line, and "quarter back" to whom the ball is passed; and [like
>> > rugby?] running, handing off, and kicking. There is no mention of 10
>> > yards in 4 downs; play is continuous until a goal is
>> > scored. (Strangely, the article seems not to say what constitutes a
>> > "goal"!) The article ends by listing the members of the
>> > Intercollegiate Football association, and praising Yale's success.]
>> >
>> > Bismarck Daily Tribune, (Bismarck, ND) Saturday, September 14, 1889;
>> > pg. 4; col A
>> >
>> >
>> > 1) 1808 -- Football, n., sense 3., figurative, interdates OED2 1711
>> > - 1879
>> >
>> > Perish the wretch who would tamely submit to be the football of
>> > George and Napoleon, to furnish sport for these ambitious despots!
>> >
>> > Raleigh Register, and North-Carolina Weekly Advertiser, (Raleigh, NC)
>> > Thursday, February 04, 1808; Issue [437]; [page apparently the last;
>> > contains colophon]; col B.
>> >
>> >
>> > 2) 1873 Oct. 9 -- perhaps/perhaps not sense 2.b [same year as Fred's
>> > quotation, slightly earlier, but before the convention and the
>> > Rutgers--Yale game]
>> >
>> > Another curious illustration of the way that games rise and fall in
>> > Yale College has just been afforded. Three years ago football was
>> > unknown; last year the football ground was crowded every afternoon;
>> > this year nobody takes the slightest interest in it.
>> >
>> > Boston Daily Advertiser (Boston, MA) Thursday, October 09, 1873;
>> > Issue 87; [page not given]; col G
>> >
>> > [What rules were used at Yale in 1873, when no-one took the slightest
>> > interest in it? At least in *early* October! :-) ]
>> >
>> >
>> > 3) 1873 Nov. 6 -- the "Boston game"? [this is chronologically the
>> > next hit in 1873 after Oct. 9]
>> >
>> > Cambridge, Wednesday, Nov. 5---The regular meeting of the board of
>> > alderman was held this evening ... The committee on public property,
>> > which had under consideration the petition of the Harvard students
>> > for leave to play football on the Public Common, reported leave to
> > withdraw.
>> >
>> > Boston Daily Advertiser (Boston, MA) Thursday, November 06, 1873;
>> > Issue 111; [apparently page 1]; col C
>> >
>> > Joel
>> >
>> > At 4/14/2011 06:38 AM, Shapiro, Fred wrote:
>> > >I posted this citation some years ago, but let me do so again in
>> > >response to Victor's recent post about the word "football." The
>> > >following antedates the OED for the American sense of the word
>> "football":
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >football (OED, 2.b., 1881)
>> > >
>> > >1873 _Forest and Stream_ 30 Oct. 189 The game of Foot Ball is truly
>> > >pleasing, not only for the spirit and amusement which it affords to
>> > >the mind, but the good results which the constitution derives from
>> > >such active exercise. There is no game, not even base ball, which
>> > >combines so much bustle, so much "hurrying to and fro," or heathful
> > > >[sic] pastime for the young men of our Universities and Colleges, as
>> > >foot ball. ... The Foot Ball season opened on October 18th. The
>> > >following Colleges sent delegates to the convention which was held
>> > >in this city, namely -- Rutgers, Yale and Princeton. Harvard
>> > >College having adopted rules of their own, it was useless for them
>> > >to send any members to the convention. Columbia College was not
>> > >represented. The first match of the season was played on October
>> > >25th at Hamilton Park between Rutgers and Yale.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >Fred Shapiro
>> > >Editor
>> > >YALE BOOK OF QUOTATIONS (Yale University Press)
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
>--
>Bill Palmer
>4 Timberlyne Road
>Chapel Hill NC 27514
>919-929-7431
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>
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