[Ads-l] "vet" (n. 1848, v. 1875)

[Jonathan Lighter]

In my limited experience, the current sense of the verb has become
increasingly common since ca1980. (I first heard it in 1981).

JL

On Thu, Feb 2, 2017 at 12:36 PM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:

> My latest Wall Street Journal column is on "vetting," extreme or otherwise.
>
> https://www.wsj.com/articles/from-horse-racing-to-extreme-
> vetting-1486048469
>
> As usual, you can sidestep the WSJ paywall by Googling for the
> headline or following a social media link, like this one:
>
> https://twitter.com/bgzimmer/status/827205437443493890
>
> The OED2 entries for the noun and verb forms of "vet" have yet to be
> updated, so here are a couple of antedatings.
>
> * "vet" n. = 'veterinary surgeon' (OED2 1862)
>
> Harry Hieover, _The Pocket and the Stud: Or, Practical Hints on the
> Management of the Stable_, 1848, p. 4
> Again comes the veterinary surgeon; and as of course came the cold, so
> of course comes the vet.’s bill.
> https://books.google.com/books?id=ELcCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA4
> (Other examples throughout, all with a period after "vet.")
>
> * "vet" v. = 'submit to examination by a veterinary surgeon' (OED2 1891)
>
> _Freeman's Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser_ (Dublin, Ireland),
> Mar. 26, 1875, p. 6, col. 4
> Prince George is an honest wear-and-tear customer and with 10st 11lb
> ought to take some doing; but he was slightly lame after his Rugby
> performance, and returned to Dublin only to be "vetted."
>
>
> --bgz
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



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