More RE: Antedatings and Etymology of "Robot"

[Laurence Horn]

On May 25, 2013, at 7:33 AM, Shapiro, Fred wrote:

> I see in looking again at the August 1922 _New York Times_ article that there are other usages of "robot" there that seem to be even more clearly antedatings of the English word:
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> 1922 _N.Y. Times_ 13 Aug. 78 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)  Robots were by all means better for use in factories and in armies, making cheap labor material, and not causing any trouble as strikers.  The firm of Rosum, Ltd., supplied robots in thousands to all parts of the world.  Later the robots organize and wage a war against the people, during which the robots destroy all human beings.
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Curiously, all memory of the events described above seems to have disappeared.  Well, it was before my time.

LH
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> From: Shapiro, Fred
> Sent: Saturday, May 25, 2013 7:21 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Cc: jester at panix.com
> Subject: RE: Antedatings and Etymology of "Robot"
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> Correction to my last posting:  According to this authoritative-seeming website
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> http://capek.misto.cz/english/robot.html
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> the Czech word "robot" did not appear in Josef Capek's 1917 story, although Josef Capek was the one who suggested the word to his brother Karel.
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> Fred Shapiro
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> ________________________________
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> From: Shapiro, Fred
> Sent: Saturday, May 25, 2013 7:12 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Cc: jester at panix.com
> Subject: Antedatings and Etymology of "Robot"
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> Here is a very slight antedating of "robot":
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> robot (OED, n.2, 10 Oct. 1922)
> 1922 _N.Y. Tribune_ 8 Oct. (Chronicling America)  Robots are mechanical men invented to do the work of the world.
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> I am not sure why the following earlier citation, posted by me on ADS-L in 2003, was not included in the OED's revised entry for "robot":
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> 1922 _N.Y. Times_ 13 Aug. 78  According to the Czechoslovaks -- "R.U.R." is a
> Czechoslovak play -- the piece departs from many dramatic traditions.  The author is Karel
> Capek, and the full title is "Rosum's Universal Robots."
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> As I noted in 2003, the OED's etymology should probably be revised, since it refers to
> Karel Capek's play "R.U.R." (1920), but not to the earlier Czech usage of "robot"
> mentioned by Allan Metcalf in his book _The World In So Many Words_, namely Josef
> Capek's short story "Opilec" (1917).
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> Fred Shapiro
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org