shelter in place

[Ben Zimmer]

On Tue, Feb 4, 2014 at 8:19 PM, Baron, Dennis E  wrote:
>
> When did the phrase "shelter in place" become the standard formula for "stay
> where you are" in case of danger? It seems fairly new to me -- the last few
> years -- is this health and safety jargon that became more widespread as
> school shootings became commonplace?

Earliest I've found is from a Feb. 1976 congressional hearing on civil defense:

"One plan looked at shelter in place for a decade and then abandoned
it in favor of massive evacuation."
--George R. Rodericks, director of Washington D.C.'s Office of
Emergency Preparedness
http://books.google.com/books?id=_o8fAAAAMAAJ&q=%22shelter+in+place%22

Cited here:
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/words-from-a-surreal-week-in-boston/

--bgz

--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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