dead man's switch

[victor steinbok]

My primary initial interest was in "dead man's switch", because it's not
even IN the OED. But this is a great find. There are two pointers that
suggest that this is a fairly early use. First, the patent indicates that
the field has not been exhausted. Second, the identification of
"sometimes-known" also suggests that it's a novelty. If there was a
variation in naming of a fairly common object, the description likely would
have involved multiple names--as the OED 1908 citation includes both handle
and knob. So the expression can't be more than a few years older than
1902--of course, the first electric trains are not much older either.

VS-)

On Wed, Aug 17, 2011 at 9:18 PM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:

>
> > 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.
>
> Here is a cite for "dead man's handle" in 1902. Also, here are the
> details for a false match in 1902 that is really dated 1905.
>
> Cite: 1902 February 15, The Electrical World and Engineer, Page 312,
> Column 1, The Electrical World and Engineer, Inc., New York. (Google
> Books full view)
>
> DEAD MAN'S HANDLE - A patent issued Jan. 28 to W. B. Potter relates to
> a railway controller attachment sometimes-known as "the dead man's
> handle." ...
>
> It is thus necessary for the motorman to have his hand on the
> controller handle at all times when power is being applied to the
> motors to drive the train and should he drop dead or become disabled,
> the train will stop of itself, and will not run wild. Hence the
> popular name "dead man's handle."
>
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=OU9EAQAAIAAJ&q=%22dead+man%27s%22#v=snippet&
>
>

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