"Got your back"? (UNCLASSIFIED)

Thu Dec 29 23:54:55 UTC 2011

Here are some unverified matches in Google Books with GB dates before
1974. I think these instances of the phrase "watch my back" fit the
meaning of sense "b. to watch a person's back : to protect or guard a
person against potential attack ..."

The "back" in question belongs to the speaker, but the other examples
with "watch my back" have been placed under sense b.

Only snippets are visible and the dates may, of course,  be wrong.

Society: Volume 11
books.google.com
1973 - Snippet view
In some cases it is simply a mutual need to have someone to "watch my
back" and reflects racial, ethnic, generational, or possibly,
political loyalty; in Other instances it is a voluntary or involuntary
sexual liaison.

The making of Sweet sweetback's baadasssss song
books.google.com
Melvin Van Peebles - 1972 - 192 pages - Snippet view
The deal was he would watch my back legal-wise, and I would teach him
all I knew mogul-wise.

Puppet on a chain
books.google.com
Alistair MacLean - 1969 - 281 pages - Snippet view
I climbed the steps and got to work on the lock. 'Watch the street.'
'And then what do I do?'
'Watch my back.'
A determined wolf-cub with a bent hairpin would have found that lock
no deterrent.

Leaps the live thunder
books.google.com
Garald Lagard - 1955 - 256 pages - Snippet view
"I reckon this's a big gamble," he said. "You watch my back, Ram.
Somebody'll be leadin' that outfit, and I want him. With him out of
the way, there'll be twenty or so men. And I want them." He drew a
scrap of linen from his saddlebag and made it fast to his saber. He
rode toward the blackjacks, holding the truce flag.

On Thu, Dec 29, 2011 at 2:36 PM, Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "Got your back"? (UNCLASSIFIED)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> That's actually a different sense in OED, "a. to watch one's back: to be
> on one's guard; to be alert to a possible (physical) threat to oneself
> (sometimes literally an attack from behind). Freq. in imper. as a
> warning or threat.", with a first quotation from 1949. The definition
> for "to watch a person's back" is sense (b) of this.
>
> Jesse Sheidlower
> OED
>
> On Thu, Dec 29, 2011 at 01:23:41PM -0600, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC wrote:
>> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
>> Caveats: NONE
>>
>> _Youngstown [OH] Vindicator_ 8/27/1972 p. A-15 col 1.
>> "Devastating sign dogging McGovern's campaign in Chicago:  "McGovern's
>> 1,000 per cent behind you.  Watch your back." "
>>
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
>> Behalf Of
>> > Laurence Horn
>> > Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2011 8:51 AM
>> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> > Subject: Re: "Got your back"?
>> >
>> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> ----------------------
>> > -
>> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>> > Subject:      Re: "Got your back"?
>> >
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ------
>> > -
>> >
>> > On Dec 29, 2011, at 9:25 AM, Tom Zurinskas wrote:
>> >
>> > > Headline:  "Need to Run Windows on Your Mac? Parallels Has Got Your
>> =
>> > Back"
>> > >=20
>> > > I suppose "has got your back" means "takes care of you".  New one to
>> =
>> > me.
>> > >=20
>> > > =
>> >
>> http://chris.pirillo.com/need-to-run-windows-on-your-mac-parallels-has-g
>> ot=
>> > -your-back/
>> > >=20
>> > >=20
>> > It's not new.  The OED has it from 1975:
>> >
>> > N. Amer. colloq. (orig. in African-American usage). to get (also have)
>> a =
>> > person's back : =3D to watch a person's back.
>> >
>> > 1975    J. De Jongh Hail, hail, Gangs! (Electronic ed.) 6   Two of
>> them =
>> > and one of you, but I got your back. Kick both of them in the ass.
>> > 1985    Washington Post 29 Mar. e5/3   Don't worry, Coach, I've got
>> your =
>> > back.
>> >
>> > as a variant of 'to watch a person's back':
>> >
>> > to watch a person's back : to protect or guard a person against =
>> > potential attack (sometimes literally from behind); (also) to support
>> or =
>> > assist a person.
>> >
>> > 1974    =91J. le Carr=E9=92 Tinker, Tailor xvii. 145   Clear a foreign
>> =
>> > letter box, prime a safe house, watch someone's back, spike an
>> embassy.
>> >
>> > LH
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > 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

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