Query: "military brat" prior to 1981? (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Jonathan Lighter]

HDAS takes "army brat" back to 1931. See also under "brat." Assuming that
anybody looks at HDAS in the first place. (Goak!) (Or is it?)

"Military brat" seems to have edged out the synonymous "service brat."

JL

On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 1:20 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <
Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:

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> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject:      Re: Query: "military brat" prior to 1981? (UNCLASSIFIED)
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> Chicago Tribune Apr 23, 1963; pg. 22 col 5
> "He doesn't have to explain to his children that their shoes have to
> outlast the military brat's next door."
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of
> > Cohen, Gerald Leonard
> > Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2011 11:27 AM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Query: "military brat" prior to 1981?
> >
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Cohen, Gerald Leonard" <gcohen at MST.EDU>
> > Subject:      Query: "military brat" prior to 1981?
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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> > -
> >
> > I've received an inquiry about "military brat."  OED3 gives 1981 as
> its first
> > attestation.  Can any earlier attestations be located?
> > And what might have occurred in 1981 to catapult the term into popular
> > consciousness?
> >
> > Any help would be much appreciated.
> >
> > G. Cohen
> > P.S. For easy access, here's what OED3 has about the term:
> > 1) The Oxford English Dictionary (3rd edition; online) says of
> "military
> > brat":
> >
> > military brat n. N. Amer. colloq. a child with a parent, or parents,
> in the
> > armed forces; esp. one who exhibits behavioural problems associated
> with the
> > unsettled and itinerant nature of military life.
> > 1981    N.Y. Times <javascript:void(0)>  11 Oct. vii. 36/3   Arias's
> style
> > reflects his cosmopolitan background-his travels with his family as a
> > *military brat, his education in urban schools and at Berkeley [etc.].
> > 1991    M. E. Wertsch Military Brats <javascript:void(0)>  x. 321
> But both
> > overachievement and underachievement by military brats can be read as
> > efforts by outsiders to reach out for recognition.
> > 2000    Ottawa Sun <javascript:void(0)>  (Electronic ed.) 3 Aug. 16
> It's
> > been several decades since they last saw their friends. This won't
> affect
> > spirits, they say, because no one knows how to party like military
> brats.
> >
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