Jane Austen and slang - article in UK newspaper

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Dan Goodman wrote:
>> Perhaps there's confusion here between being first to use phrases in print, and coining them?

LH wrote:
Indeed; cf. Shakespeare, W.

Hugo wrote:
> Yes, and also between being first to use phrases in print, and being the first to use phrases in print that dictionary compilers happen know about right now and have published. :)
> (See my next mail for an Austen antedating.)

Excellent antedating work, Hugo! I posted the excerpt from the article
about Jane Austen and slang because I thought that the words and
phrases in it would be good targets for antedating.

LH alluded to other news articles that have used a similar flawed
analysis based on OED citations to evaluate the propensity of
Shakespeare to coin new words and phrases.

(Please note that I am not criticizing the work of Charlotte Brewer
who is mentioned in the article. I suspect that the journalist
misunderstood and misinterpreted what she said.)

Garson

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