an antedating "how to"? (UNCLASSIFIED)

[George Thompson]

A Farewell to Anuses, indeed.

I've done a great deal of searching in Readex's America's Historical
Newspapers & Gale's 19th C American Newspapers, as well as Proquest's
historical files, and my impression is, that a search of these files will
turn up about 1/3 of what is there to be found.  I see a name, wonder "what
else has that guy done", and search for him; whatever comes up often does
not include the item that I started from.  This is an everyday
experience.

As regards this antedating assignment: the students should also avoid
looking to antedate an unusual sense of a common word, unless there is some
second word to throw in that will eliminate most appearances of the common
senses.

I pointed out off-list to Beth that the approach I suggested -- searching
for some phrase used as preamble to a word the writer thought new and
strange, for instance, "as they say in Brooklyn", may turn up a variety of
words to be checked in the OED; the opposite of starting with the OED and
picking a word to try to antedate.

GAT


On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 12:06 PM, Mullins, Bill CIV (US) <
william.d.mullins18.civ at mail.mil> wrote:

> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> Good article!
>
> Some specific comments . .  .
>
> > you probably should NOT search for
>
>
> > * Extremely rare words. The more rare the word, the less likely you are
> > to find it used at all, much less to antedate the OED records.
>
> UNLESS you have access to a specialized database or corpora that may
> contain that rare word.  "Rare" is a relative term, and what's rare in
> common usage may not be so within a particular jargon.
>
> > * Extremely new entries.
> Same comment applies; a word that is new in general usage may be older
> (and antedateable) in a particular jargon.
>
> > To get an idea of the sorts of antedatings researchers have already
> > found, check the archives of the ADS-L listserv (search for
> > "antedating"):
> > http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?S1=ads-l
>
> You might also suggest Barry Popik's website:
> http://www.barrypopik.com/
>
>
> You don't specifically address the vagaries of OCR.  One of my ongoing
> projects is researching Houdini before he became a big star, ca. 1898 or
> so.  Probably half of the references I've found for him pre-1898 were not
> from searching for the string "Houdini", but for variants: Hondini,
> Houdlni, Houdinl, Houdmi, Hoadini, hloudini, etc., etc.  It's probably
> difficult for a beginning antedator to deal with the issue; the ability to
> successfully guess how OCR software and microfilm can screw up a word may
> be as much art as science.  But students should be aware of the issue, if
> only so that they know that a negative search result DOES NOT mean that the
> word didn't exist in the range searched.  Depending on the database, I'd
> guess that half or more citations are missed because the printed word is
> not accurately reflected in the digital text that is searched.
>
> This article:
>
> http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/may/01/scanner-ebook-arms-anus-optical-character-recognition
> would drive the point home in a memorable way.
>
>
>
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> > Behalf Of Beth Young
> > Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2014 7:26 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: an antedating "how to"?
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header ---------------
> > --------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Beth Young <zbyoung at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: an antedating "how to"?
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --------
> >
> > Thanks to everyone who commented on my earlier message asking about a
> > how-to antedating guide. In case anyone is interested, I've put
> > together a brief guide based on those comments and pasted plain text of
> > it below. It remains to be seen whether my students will try it out.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Beth Young
> >
> >
> > ****Antedating the OED: A How-To Guide****
> >
> >
> > Antedating an OED entry probably won't appeal to everyone, but a few of
> > you might enjoy the challenge. You might enjoy it even more if you work
> > in groups.
> >
> > This activity will help you better understand the kind of crowdsourcing
> > that made the OED possible, as well as what's involved in
> > lexicographical research generally. Also, this activity has a real-
> > world application--it will let you contribute to the OED, one of the
> > greatest language resources in the English language.
> >
> > You definitely don't need to be an expert linguist to antedate words!
> > Here  is an account of how Nathaniel Sharpe, a 22-year-old amateur
> > genealogist from a small town in North Dakota near the border with
> > Canada, was able to antedate the term scalawag:
> > http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2013/03/10/the-original-
> > scalawag/fuFLccvsn4b1T6t18WFvxL/story.html
> >
> >
> >
> > ***Choose which word(s) to look for:
> >
> > You can only antedate words that the OED already contains. Some words
> > will be easier to antedate than others. Think carefully about the
> > evidence available to you and the likelihood that the OED
> > lexicographers have already searched that evidence. For example, you
> > probably should NOT search for
> >
> > * Extremely old words. If the earliest illustrative OED quotation dates
> > from the OE period, you would need to find evidence of the word used in
> > an even earlier manuscript. How many OE manuscripts do you have lying
> > around that the OED lexicographers don't already know about? (Zero.)
> >
> > * Extremely rare words. The more rare the word, the less likely you are
> > to find it used at all, much less to antedate the OED records.
> >
> > * Extremely new entries. If the OED lexicographers have just finished
> > updating the entry for your word, that means they have recently
> > searched intensively through various online databases. Unless you're
> > planning to search in places that they don't know about, you probably
> > won't have any antedating luck. (Though at least one expert says that
> > it can be easier to antedate the newer entries, because their sources
> > are useful clues to where they have searched, so you can figure out
> > where else to look.)
> >
> > Instead, try looking for
> >
> > * words where the first illustrative quotations date from 1800-1923
> > * words for which entries were written before 1990 (i.e., before the
> > Internet)
> > * words that relate to specialized databases you can access (see below)
> > * words that the OED has appealed to readers to help locate:
> > http://public.oed.com/appeals/
> >
> > To get an idea of the sorts of antedatings researchers have already
> > found, check the archives of the ADS-L listserv (search for
> > "antedating"):
> > http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?S1=ads-l
> >
> >
> >
> > ***Decide where/how to search:
> >
> > Look through the illustrative quotations the OED provides for the
> > word/sense you're looking for. The date of the earliest quotation
> > should be the end of your search window.
> >
> > The beginning of your search window should be a date that is plausible.
> > For example, if you're trying to antedate an automobile-related word,
> > you don't need to search earlier than the date the automobile was
> > invented. You may find that your search window is constrained by the
> > database you're searching.
> >
> > Consider looking for an online archive related to your word's topic.
> > For example, if your word relates to hot air ballooning, maybe there is
> > an archive of back issues of Ballooning Magazine. (I don't know that
> > there is--this is just an example.)
> >
> > Watch for signs that a writer thought the word or expression was
> > particularly clever or up-to-date, such as setting it off with
> > quotation marks or italics, or introducing it by saying something like,
> > "as the boys say" or "to use a Kentucky expression" (KY having once
> > been a wild frontier). Unfortunately, typographical tricks can't be
> > entered into a search engine, but they can help you find antedatings in
> > texts you're reading for another purpose.
> >
> > Don't search where you know that the OED lexicographers have already
> > searched. If the OED's earliest illustrative quotation comes from Punch
> > magazine, it's likely that there aren't any earlier citations in Punch
> > magazine or the lexicographers would have found them.
> >
> > Additional information on search strategies:
> >
> > http://knowyourmeme.com/forums/meme-research/topics/2599-how-to-search-
> > for-an-origin
> > (this one relates to memes, but it is also helpful for searching newer
> > words)
> >
> > http://www.hackcollege.com/blog/2011/11/23/infographic-get-more-out-of-
> > google.html
> > (google tips and tricks)
> >
> >
> > Some online databases to search in:
> >
> > http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/2701/what-are-some-good-
> > sites-for-researching-etymology/47167#47167
> > a list of sites for researching etymology;
> >
> > https://sites.google.com/site/fulltextdatabases/ Bill Mullins' giant
> > list of publicly accessible full-text databases
> >
> > Resources: see the class links on etymology, which can help you figure
> > out which avenues are probably not worth exploring
> >
> > UCF Special Collections:  An overview guide is here:
> > http://guides.ucf.edu/content.php?pid=216587  A UCF librarian
> > recommended two tabs from that overview guide: University Archives
> > (which contains the Central Florida Future archive, which has
> > searchable .pdfs), and Central Florida Memory (which has a selection of
> > some old local Florida papers).
> >  Also, the library's guide to News & Newspapers (
> > http://guides.ucf.edu/c.php?g=78313&p=514410#977599 ) links to any full
> > content the library provides either through subscription or Open
> > Access--you might especially be interested in the Florida Historical
> > Newspaper section.  (I find these sites to be a tad confusing, but
> > maybe that means the OED lexicographers won't have bothered to search
> > them!)
> >
> > Databases that UCF subscribes to: Click UCF Library Tools in the left
> > toolbar, then choose a likely database. Databases that might be useful
> > include:  American Periodical Series; British Periodicals;
> > Congressional Serial Set, Google Books, Eighteenth Century Collections
> > Online, Early American Imprints, Early English Books Online, Florida
> > Heritage, Florida Historical Legal Documents, HarpWeek, JSTOR, Latino
> > Literature 1850- , LexisNexis Academic, National Geographic, Nineteenth
> > Century Collections Online, New York Times, Historical - ProQuest,
> > Sabin Americana Digital Archive, Vogue Archive, Women Writers Project.
> >
> > Your public library back home might also have useful databases (e.g.,
> > ProQuest Historical Newspapers, America's Historical Newspapers,
> > NewspaperArchive, Newspapers.com, GenealogyBank, British Newspapers
> > 1600-1950)
> >
> > If you subscribe to any newspapers or magazines, you might be able to
> > access full-text online archives of past issues.
> >
> >
> >
> > ***Know what evidence you need:
> >
> > The OED needs primary sources only: verifiable evidence that the word
> > was used on a particular date. In practice, this means only precisely
> > dated citations, verified from original print sources or reliable
> > facsimile images. (Here is a UCF library guide to primary sources:
> > http://guides.ucf.edu/c.php?g=78169&p=507879)
> >
> > Things students have submitted in the past that do NOT count:
> >
> > * Entries from another dictionary. Maybe the Merriam-Webster Dictionary
> > says the word dates from 1907, earlier than the first illustrative
> > quotation in the OED. I'm sure the MWD has evidence for its date, but
> > unless you have the same evidence (a citation that is dated 1907,
> > verifiable from the original print source or a reliable facsimile), it
> > doesn't count.
> >
> > * Entries from a different sense of the word in the OED. Maybe you
> > think a particular quotation illustrates sense 2a better than sense 2c,
> > but the OED doesn't think so. Find evidence that the OED lexicographers
> > haven't seen, not evidence that you think they have mischaracterized.
> >
> > * Articles that describe earlier usages. Journalists love to run
> > articles claiming various origins for a given word or expression. But
> > the unsupported claim of a 21st century journalist means little--you
> > need to find the primary source, the word actually in use on the
> > earlier date. An article from 1998 that claims a word was coined in
> > 1898 doesn't count.
> >
> > * Entries where the word does not appear. Maybe you can type the words
> > "Sam Browne" into a search engine and get some great images of a "Sam
> > Browne belt," but unless the images themselves contain the words "Sam
> > Browne,"
> > that doesn't count. (After all, it probably was a modern editor who
> > attached the keywords "Sam Browne" to that image.) If you're looking
> > for the expression "Sam Browne belt," you need to find that expression
> > in use.
> >
> > What does count? Primary source evidence, verifiable from the original
> > print source or a reliable facsimile, that the word was used on a
> > particular date.
> >
> > In particular, you need all the information required by the OED
> > submission form, plus a quotation long enough to show how the word is
> > being used:
> > http://global.oup.com/uk/oedsubform/
> >
> > The OED prefers evidence drawn from print publications because it is
> > more stable and therefore more easily re-traceable in the future.
> >
> > For more information about what the OED accepts, see here:
> > http://public.oed.com/the-oed-%20today/contribute-to-the-oed/
> >
> > Also see the FAQs about contributions here:
> > http://public.oed.com/about/frequently-asked-%20questions/#contribute
> >
> >
> >
> > ***Take good notes!
> >
> > Keep track of what you search for, where you search, how you searched,
> > and why. I will consider awarding points for detailed accounts of high-
> > quality searches even if they do not result in successful antedatings.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Many thanks to Fred Shapiro, Jonathan Lighter, Stephen Goranson, Bonnie
> > Taylor-Blake, W. Brewer, Gerald Cohen, Hugo, Clai Rice, George
> > Thompson, Dan Goncharoff, Katherine Martin, Damien Hall, and all the
> > ADS-L members who helped me compile this how-to.
> >
> >
> > On Tue, May 20, 2014 at 3:48 PM, Beth Young <zbyoung at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Has anyone written an antedating "how to" guide?
> > >
> > > Last year, as an experiment, I offered extra credit to students who
> > > tried to antedate a word in the OED. I knew that the task wouldn't
> > > appeal to every student, but I figured that there might be one or two
> > > who would enjoy the challenge. I thought that the activity would help
> > > students better understand what's involved in this sort of research,
> > > and I wanted to give them an opportunity to do research with
> > potential real-world application.
> > >
> > > The activity did not succeed, for a variety of reasons. My better
> > > students chose not to try it. My weaker students did try it, but they
> > > tended to provide "evidence" like an entry from another dictionary
> > > ("Merriam-Webster says the word dates from 1915"), a quotation from
> > > the OED itself ("OED says it means X but I think it really means Y")
> > > or a 21st century magazine article that makes claims about how a word
> > originated centuries earlier.
> > >
> > > One student commented that she had picked the "easiest" words to
> > > antedate but still had no luck; turns out that she thought the
> > easiest
> > > words would be the entries that the OED had just revised less than a
> > year ago.
> > >
> > > A good class discussion could clear up many misconceptions, but my
> > > classes are almost always scheduled online. So . . . if I keep this
> > > activity (haven't decided yet), I'll need to provide more basic
> > > information, such as what counts as evidence and how one might go
> > about antedating a word.
> > >
> > > Do you know of an already written "how to" that I could share? Have
> > > you tried this sort of activity with students?
> > >
> > > thanks,
> > >
> > > Beth Young
> > >
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



-- 
George A. Thompson
The Guy Who Still Looks Stuff Up in Books.
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
Univ. Pr., 1998..

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