[Ads-l] Antedating of "Ham" (Radio)

[Dan Goncharoff]

I get it now. Earliest use of a derogatory term by one member of the group
to another, referring to a possible third member.

DanG
WN2UJX, many decades ago

On Jul 31, 2016 5:31 PM, "George Thompson" <george.thompson at nyu.edu> wrote:

> For the fastidious in these matters:  the last three paragraphs came from
> p. 133
>
> GAT
>
> On Sun, Jul 31, 2016 at 5:29 PM, George Thompson <george.thompson at nyu.edu>
> wrote:
>
> >
> > I take a personal interest in this topic, since my father was a
> > professional wireless telegraphist in the early decades of the 20th C.
> > Here are notes made from the article, as found in Proquest's American
> > Periodicals Online.
> >
> >             [wireless telegraphy has been the domain of the Navy
> > Department until recently]  It is estimated that throughout the United
> > States over four thousand amateur Wireless Telegraph stations are in
> active
> > operation.   ***  A town of nine hundred inhabitants in upper New York
> > State [has] twenty-eight wireless stations.   Three electrical
> publications
> > cater almost exclusively to these operators. . . .    [Their
> transmissions
> > interfere with the Navy's]  [p. 131]
> >
> >             [the amateurs call up] their friends, carrying on long
> > conversations . . . , and occasionally . . . sounding the call letters of
> > the nearest naval operator and inquiring about his health.  ***  A Boston
> > amateur, when recently told by a naval operator to "butt out," made the
> > following classic remark: "Say. you navy people think you own the ether.
> > Who ever heard of the navy, anyway?  Beat it, you, beat it."
> >
> >             An interesting record of amateur gossip as it is carried on
> > over the ether has been compiled by one of the naval operators.  ***
> >
> >             "How do you get me to-day?  I am using my new transformer and
> > my helix is hooked up different.  ***  Say, old man, I get you fine as
> > silk.  ***  Say, old man, I met your lady friend yesterday.  Ha, ha.
> Quit
> > your kidding.  Say, do  you know the fellow who is putting up a new
> > station out your way? I think he is a ham. Will call you up in ten
> minutes.
> > Say, old man, must go to supper now, but will be on the rest of the
> night.
> > O.K., O.K., will see you later."
> >
> > The "electrical publications that cater almost exclusively to these
> > operators" would be worth looking at.
> >
> > If someone had invented a wireless key and transmitter that could fit
> into
> > a pocket, this scene would have been an antedating of the 21st century.
> >
> > GAT
> >
> >
> > On Sun, Jul 31, 2016 at 4:16 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> How do you distinguish ham=bad telegraphist, which goes back to 19th C.
> >> from ham=amateur wireless radio operator?
> >>
> >> On Jul 31, 2016 2:09 PM, "ADSGarson O'Toole" <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com
> >
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >> The Wikipedia article "Etymology of ham radio" also mentioned a
> >> citation in April 1909 for "ham" that seemed to match the desired
> >> sense of: "An amateur telegraphist; now esp. an amateur radio
> >> operator."
> >>
> >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_ham_radio
> >>
> >> Here are the details (please double-check for errors):
> >>
> >> Date: April 1909
> >> Periodical: Electrician and Mechanic
> >> Volume 19, Number 10
> >> Article: Wireless Interference
> >> Author: Robert A. Morton
> >> Start Page 422, Quote Page 424, Column 1 and 2
> >> Database: HathiTrust Full View
> >>
> >> http://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.hxhis4
> >> http://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.hxhis4?urlappend=%3Bseq=636
> >>
> >> [Begin excerpt]
> >> "How do you get me to-day? I am using my new transformer and my helix
> >> is hitched up different.
> >> . . .
> >> Say, do  you know the fellow who is putting up a new station out your
> >> way? I think he is a ham. Will call you up in ten minutes. Say, old
> >> man, must go to supper now, but will be on the rest of the night. O K,
> >> O K, will see you later."
> >> [End excerpt]
> >>
> >> The passage was repeated in a later article by Morton.
> >>
> >> Date: January 15, 1910
> >> Periodical: The Outlook: A Weekly Newspaper
> >> Editor-in-Chief: Lyman Abbott
> >> Article: The Amateur Wireless Operator
> >> Author: Robert A. Morton
> >> Publisher: The Outlook Company, New York
> >> Start Page 131, Quote Page 133, Column 1
> >> Database: Google Books Full View
> >>
> >>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=l5tFAQAAMAAJ&q=%22is+a+ham%22#v=snippet&
> >>
> >> [Begin excerpt]
> >> "How do you get me to-day? I am using my new transformer and my helix
> >> is hitched up different.
> >> . . .
> >> Say, do  you know the fellow who is putting up a new station out your
> >> way? I think he is a ham. Will call you up in ten minutes. Say, old
> >> man, must go to supper now, but will be on the rest of the night.
> >> O.K., O.K., will see you later."
> >> [End excerpt]
> >>
> >> Garson
> >>
> >>
> >> On Sat, Jul 30, 2016 at 8:50 PM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
> >> wrote:
> >> > The OED first use of the radio sense of "ham" (ham, n.1 4.) is dated
> >> 1919.  According to Wikipedia, this term was used in an article titled
> >> "Floods and Wireless" by Hanby Carver, published in the August 1915
> issue
> >> of Technical World Magazine.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Fred Shapiro
> >> >
> >> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> 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..
> >
>
>
>
> --
> 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..
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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