an antedating "how to"? (UNCLASSIFIED)

Fri Aug 22 01:22:29 UTC 2014

What an excellent guide!  I would just add two points. 

1. Be suspicious of datings in databases, especially if they seem too good to be true.  Always try to confirm datings with a date in an image of the original document.

2. Dictionaries can be source documents in their own right, if they are dictionaries that the OED editors have not seen. You can be sure that the OED editors are familiar with, say, any Merriam - Webster publication. But a specialized industry glossary might be a valuable contribution.

John Baker

> On Aug 18, 2014, at 11:13 AM, "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
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
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> 
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 

------------------------------------------------------------
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