Antedating of "Chocoholic"

[Shapiro, Fred]

Outstanding antedating by Garson.  This 1961 citation is particularly significant because, I believe, it puts "chocoholic" earlier than "workaholic" as the first known example of the "-aholic"/"-oholic" pseudo-suffix.  (As such, it is also an antedating of the OED entry for "-aholic.")

Fred Shapiro



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From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Garson O'Toole [adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM]
Sent: Sunday, March 18, 2012 10:45 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Antedating of "Chocoholic"

Fred Shapiro wrote:
> The OED's first use for "chocoholic" is dated 1972.  Here is an earlier
> citation:
>
> 1966 _Boston Globe_ 19 Aug. 29 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)
> Yes, I do  like chocolate.  In fact, some days I am a chocoholic!

Nice find. In this 1961 cite the word "chocoholic" was introduced with
a question.

Cite: 1961 January 11, Pasadena Independent, Lyle W. Nash: Reporter at
Large, Page 7, Column 6, Pasadena, California. (NewspaperArchive)
[Begin excerpt]
Would you call a person who is over fond of chocolates a chocoholic?
[End excerpt]

Garson

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