Antedating of "Workaholic"

[Jonathan Lighter]

My interpretation is that the passage is meant to satirize Alcoholics
Anonymous, which was widely reported on in the late '40s.

Alcoholism was widely believed to represent a failure of willpower and an
indication of weak, even reprehensible, character. Many thought the idea of
untrustworthy alcoholics assembling to "cure" one another was ridiculous.
Hence the absurd puns of "Workaholics Synonymous" - for hard workers rather
than hard drinkers.

JL


On Mon, Feb 3, 2014 at 2:29 PM, Mark Mandel <thnidu at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Mark Mandel <thnidu at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Antedating of "Workaholic"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Or a mistake by someone who didn't know.
>
> Mark
>
>
> On Sat, Feb 1, 2014 at 1:58 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu
> >wrote:
>
> > Synonymous?  I guess that must be a pun, but I don't get it.  Or just a
> > typo?
> >
> > LH
> >
> > On Feb 1, 2014, at 1:22 PM, Shapiro, Fred wrote:
> >
> > > workaholic (OED 1968)
> > >
> > > 1947 _Toronto Daily Star_ 5 Apr. 6 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)  If
> > you are cursed with an unconquerable craving for work, call Workaholics
> > Synonymous, and a reformed worker will aid you back to happy idleness.
> > >
> > > Fred Shapiro
> > >
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