Antedating of "Double Standard"

[Laurence Horn]

Very nice find, Fred.  But I would argue for a distinction between an example like the one below ("there is a double standard of morals") and the general (< 1951?) use of "the double standard" to refer to, well, "a rule, principle, judgement, etc., viewed as applying more strictly to one group of people, set of circumstances, etc., than to another; *applied specifically to a code of sexual behaviour that is more rigid for women than for men*"--especially with that specific reference.  Even now, if we note that a banker who swindles millions gets off with a slap on the wrist (and probably a hefty bonus) while the low-level employee caught raiding the till gets 5 years in prison we might not feel comfortable saying "that's the (old) double standard" without providing additional context "that's the old double standard in a capitalist society harking back to Victor Hugo [or whoever]", since the primary sense of the expression out of context is still the one involving sexual code!
 s of behavior.   This is especially the case if there are no clear examples between 1884 and 1951 in which "the double standard" tout court clearly evokes that specific reference to asymmetry in sexual codes.

One argument for a distinction is precisely that between "a double standard" and "the double standard", the "the" assumes uniqueness and/or hearer's familiarity (and where there's nothing earlier in the discourse for the "the" to pick up on).

LH


On Sep 10, 2013, at 10:44 PM, Shapiro, Fred wrote:

> double standard (OED 1951)
>
> 1884 _American Law Journal_ 1: 339 (HeinOnline)  There can not exist a healthy state of society where there is a double standard of morals -- one standard for the husband, and another, and quite different standard, for the wife. ... Making it a serious thing for a husband to trifle with his connubial duties, which it always should be, is likely to be far-reaching in French society, and cannot fail to bear good fruit.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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