Spanish Origin of Miniskirt?

[Baker, John]

I'm pretty sure that the dates are not reliable in the first two Google Books citations, since it's easy to search for later years in those documents.  I don't speak Spanish and can't evaluate the other citations.


John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Benjamin Barrett
Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2014 3:39 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Spanish Origin of Miniskirt?

I can't confirm the date, but the following link claims "miniskirt" from 1960:

http://books.google.com/books?id=QnAUAQAAMAAJ&q=%22miniskirt%22&dq=%22miniskirt%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=dtzCU4aUEpGHogSB8YCICA&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA

No preview is provided, but the following is claimed to be from 1955 for "mini skirt":

http://books.google.com/books?id=GUuukQEACAAJ&dq=%22mini+skirt%22&hl=es&sa=X&ei=oN7CU6G2LpDuoASqt4CQDA&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAA

I don't know if you saw these, but FWIW.

Also, searching for "minifalda" on Google Books yields a few hits. I don't speak Spanish, but the 1900 and 1933 hits look like  red herrings. The 1951 hit looks relevant:

http://books.google.com/books?id=K3COAAAAIAAJ&q=%22minifalda%22&dq=%22minifalda%22&hl=es&sa=X&ei=NN_CU4yLJ8_3oAS6nIFI&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAg

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SALARIO MINIMO- cubre al obrero lo que la minifalda cubre a la chica nada.
-----

There is also a 1911 hit for "mini-falda":
http://books.google.com/books?id=ZO4qAAAAMAAJ&q=%22mini+falda%22&dq=%22mini+falda%22&hl=es&sa=X&ei=BuDCU9PGHpH4oASbmoLQAQ&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA

Benjamin Barrett
Formerly of Seattle, WA

Learn Ainu! https://sites.google.com/site/aynuitak1/home


On Jul 13, 2014, at 12:16 PM, Baker, John <JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Baker, John" <JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM>
> Subject:      Spanish Origin of Miniskirt?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> The term "miniskirt" is usually thought to have been invented in London aro=
> und 1965, possibly by Mary Quant, who had a well-known boutique in Chelsea.=
>  However, the OED has an earlier citation, in 1962, to the Billings (Monta=
> na) Gazette.  Billings is not usually considered to be quite so fashion-for=
> ward. =20
> 
> I took a look at the article.  It's datelined Mexico City and credited to J=
> ohn Abney, who I understand was a wire service reporter there.  Presumably =
> it just happened that the Billings Gazette was the only newspaper that pick=
> ed up the article and was included in online databases.  The article descri=
> bes the "mini-skirt" or "Ya-Ya" as the latest thing on the production line =
> in Mexico City.  It refers repeatedly to some kind of writing by a prominen=
> t psychiatrist, unnamed, who had argued that the miniskirt was a youthful p=
> rotest of international threats to peace.
> 
> Mexico City is an unexpected source of "miniskirt," but still quite a bit m=
> ore plausible than Billings, Montana.  Might "miniskirt" be a calque of som=
> e Spanish term?  It would be nice if someone who speaks Spanish and has acc=
> ess to the necessary databases could do a search of Mexico City publication=
> s from the period.
> 
> 
> John Baker
> 
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