dead man's switch

[victor steinbok]

Could be either a track switch or a switchback (like a road going up a
mountain). And all early cites involve "electric trains" of which this is
not one (Illinois? Mississippi? no). So it is indeed intriguing, but does
not appear to be related. Of course, we'll let Jesse & Co decide.

VS-)

On Tue, Aug 16, 2011 at 7:41 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

>
> There is an intriguing item in an 1898 newspaper:
>
> "One little slip of manilla paper, says the Citizen Ledger, is likely
> to be worth $25,000 to the Illinois Central Railroad. Last June a
> freight wreck occurred on the road near Dead Man's Switch, about
> three miles north of Jackson, in which J. M. Quinn was killed."
>
> The article continues to sketchily describe the accident, a suit for
> $25,000 by the "dead man"s widow (I don't think there's a connection
> here) against the railroad, and the potential significance of the
> paper, which contains the engineer's instructions, on the widow's suit.
>
> The Daily Picayune, (New Orleans, LA) Friday, March 11, 1898; pg. 14;
> Issue 46; col C.  [19th C. Amer. Newspapers]
>
> Since "Dead Man's Switch" is here a place name, the meaning is not
> evident.  It may merely be a place where if someone doesn't switch
> something, someone is likely to be dead soon after.
>
> (This is the only hit in this database for any of Victor's various
> combinations.)
>
> Joel
>
> At 8/16/2011 05:51 PM, victor steinbok wrote:
> >Unless I missed something in the search (for which I blame the editors, of
> >course), the expression is not in the OED in any variation (dead man
> switch,
> >dead men switch, dead men's switch, deadman switch, etc.).
> >
> >...
> >
> >The earliest for "dead man's handle/knob" in the OED is 1908 (includes
> both
> >knob and handle). Ironically, the switch makes its appearance in the same
> >year.
> >
> >http://goo.gl/1aOh4
> >Bulletin of the International Railway Congress Association (English
> >Edition).
> >Volume 22 (9). September 1908
> >Electric Traction by Simple Alternating Current on European Railways. By
> H.
> >Marchand-Thriar. VIII.--The Thomson-Houston Company's System. p. 1023
> >
> > > The master-controller is fitted with a safety handle (dead man's
> switch) so
> > > arranged that if the driver fell or fainted, his releasing the handle
> would
> > > ensure the current being cut off automatically from all the vehicles.
> >
> >Volume 22(11). November 1908
> >Notes Taken During a Journey of Enquiry in the United States. By Em.
> >Uytborck. p. 1217
> >
> > > The cars are equipped with the system of control known as the "Sprague
> > > General Electric"; the controller is fitted with a dead-man's switch
> (i.e.
> > > it returns to neutral if the driver releases the handle).
> >...
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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