test-drive (the noun)

[George Thompson]

Joel writes:
"(7)  1917 for the extended sense, as an attributive:

This latter material is a very fine grained and densely compacted
material that resists, like rock, the penetration of a test drive
rod, but when exposed to the action of running water, immediately washes away.

Professional Memoirs / Corps of Engineers, United States Army and
Engineer Department at Large, Vol. 9, Number 45, May-June 1917, page
266.  GBooks Full view."

Is this to be read as "test-drive rod" or "test drive-rod"?

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: Saturday, March 5, 2011 10:56 pm
Subject: Re: test-drive (the noun)
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU

> At 3/5/2011 08:42 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >Merely "put to the test," "try":
> >
> >2011
> >http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/112206/why-most-self-help-books-stink
>
> I'm sure Jon doesn't mean to imply this extended sense is new to the
> 21st century; I'm sure I've heard it before 2011.  But I was
> curious.  OED (1989) has a definition (under "test n.1") only as a
> *verb*, only the specific sense for a motor vehicle, and only from
> 1954.  And no quotations under other headwords for the noun.
>
> I didn't find anything earlier for the verb.  But the noun is
> interesting, and old.  In chronological order.
>
> (0)   1899 for the extended (non-vehicle) sense:
>
> Just after noon the status of the short interest was such as to make
> possible a test drive against the bears in the grangers and Goulds.
>
> [Article titled "Rather a Bull Day / Aggressive Operations against
> the Bears in Reading"; operations on the financial stock market, not
> the range, where the bears roam.  :-)  I'll leave to the curious what
> "grangers" are (it's in the OED, and from earlier than 1899.]
>
> The North American [Philadelphia], Friday, September 23, 1892; pg. 3;
> col 1   19th-Century U.S. Newspapers.
>
> (1)  1901 for the vehicle sense:
>
> A candidate and examiner about to start from Scotland Yard for a test
> drive in the police gig.  From a Photo. by George Newman, Limited.
>
> [Caption to photograph showing an open one-horse carriage, two men in
> it, presumably cabman being tested behind the reins and examiner in
> the passenger seat.  Article titled "How Cab, 'Bus, and Tram-Car
> Drivers are Tested in England and America."]
>
> Strand Magazine [London], Vol. 22,  No. 130, October 1901, page
> 374.  GBooks Full view.
>
> [This issue contains Chapter 5, "Three Broken Threads", of "The Hound
> of the Baskervilles", by Conan Doyle.]
>
> (2)   1907 for the motor vehicle sense:
>
> Talking about the Rolls-Royce reminds me that, with reference to the
> discussion on the respective merits of the four-cylinder and
> six-cylinder, which is to take place on February 7, Mr. Claude
> Johnson, of the Rolls-Royce Co., 1 5, Conduit Street, asks me to say
> that any of our readers who would like to be taken for a test drive
> in a six-cylinder Roll-Royce should communicate with him.
>
> The Bystander[London], Vol. 13, No. 165, January 30, 1907, page 256,
> col. 1.  GBooks Full view.
>
> (3)  1908 for the extended sense, as an attributive:
>
> Test Drive Wells, Long Island.
>
> [Title of abstract of article "California Stove-Pipe Wells on Long
> Island".  Sentence in abstract:  "Describes wells ... driven for the
> purpose of determining whether the ground water supply there
> available is of sufficient quantity and of proper quality to warrant
> its development as a source of additional water supply for New York City."]
>
> The Engineering Digest, Vol. 3, No. 4, April 1908, page 472.  GBooks
> Full view.
>
> (4)  1909 for the motor vehicle sense:
>
> At the latter place it was necessary to wait four hours for driving
> licenses, the usual test drive being required.
>
> [Article titled "Expenses of an American's Trip in Europe".]
>
> The Automobile, Vol. 21, No. 18, October 28, 1909, page 743, col.
> 1.  GBooks Full view.
>
> (5)  1912 for a somewhat extended sense -- driving but not of motor cars:
>
> In  the fall of 1907, twelve thousand ties were purchased from small
> operators who delivered them on the banks of the Rio Grande near the
> town of Espanola above White Rock Canyon, and a test drive to the
> boom was made, demonstrating that no difficulty would be encountered
> in driving the main river.
>
> [Article titled "Log Driving in the Desert".]
>
> Technical World Magazine, Vol. 18, No. 3, November 1912, page 314,
> col. 2.  GBooks Full view.
>
> (6)  1917 for the extended sense:
>
> Test-Drive in Orange, N.J., Follows Campaign Plan and Exceeds Quota [headline]
>       To prove out the merits of the Service Flat idea in connection
> with a membership campaign before presenting it to the public as a
> whole, a test campaign was tried out in Orange, N.J. ... The progress
> and results of this advance test were studied closely by the Natinal
> Committee in charge of the nation-wide drive ...
>       The membership test drive in Orange exceeded the expectations
> of even the most optimistic. ...
>       The outcome of the test drive at Orange ...demonstrated to the
> National Red Cross Membership Drive Committee that ...
>
> The Red Cross Bulletin, Vol. 1, No. 33, December 17, 1917, page 2,
> col. 2.  GBooks Full view.
>
> (7)  1917 for the extended sense, as an attributive:
>
> This latter material is a very fine grained and densely compacted
> material that resists, like rock, the penetration of a test drive
> rod, but when exposed to the action of running water, immediately
> washes away.
>
> Professional Memoirs / Corps of Engineers, United States Army and
> Engineer Department at Large, Vol. 9, Number 45, May-June 1917, page
> 266.  GBooks Full view.
>
> Joel
>
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