"booster" = shoplifter, antedating to 1911; also "stuss-house" (?)

Jesse Sheidlower jester at PANIX.COM
Fri Jul 1 15:02:03 UTC 2011


On Fri, Jul 01, 2011 at 10:47:10AM -0400, Joel S. Berson wrote:
> The OED has "booster" = shoplifter (sense 3) from 1912.  A minor
> antedating to 1911.

If you look at the OED quotation, you'll see that this is not exactly an
antedating, rather it's a conversion of the existing quote to its
earlier periodical appearance.

HDAS has a 1908 example, in any case.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

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