[Ads-l] "snow farm", not in OED; 1970--? Bostonism?

[Peter Reitan]

The surprising thing to me about "snow farm" as used in Boston snowplow business is that it is where the snow is taken to die - not a place where snow is taken from, as in most of the other "... farms".


A 1998 example relating to the Monarch ski area in Colorado uses "snow farm" as a place where they dig up snow to build roads and ramps for their snow-cats. Santa Fe New Mexican, February 26, 1998, page 16 (newspapers.com).


And before electrical distribution and refrigeration became widespread, there was "ice farming". Numerous examples in chroniclingamerica.loc.gov, for example: The Diamond Drill (Crystal Falls, MI, MI), March 28, 1896, page 4: "Ice harvesting here is finished, and all available space has been filled with fine clear ice.  Trippley and Trombley did most of the ice farming."


________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2017 11:30 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: "snow farm", not in OED; 1970--? Bostonism?

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: "snow farm", not in OED; 1970--? Bostonism?
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John Baker initiated a thread on "snow farm" back in March 2015 when
he offered the term as 2015 Word of the Year and listed some
citations:

http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2015-March/136151.html

Other phrases were mentioned: ice farm, body farm, fuel farm.

Garson


On Thu, Feb 16, 2017 at 11:37 AM, Joel Berson <berson at att.net> wrote:
> Does it go back to the older sense of "to farm" as "to collect taxes, fee=
s, etc."?
>
> Joel
>
>
>       From: Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>  To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>  Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2017 11:28 AM
>  Subject: Re: [ADS-L] "snow farm", not in OED; 1970--? Bostonism?
>
> Is this a productive euphemism process?  Can we reconceptualize automobil=
e junkyards =E2=80=9Ccar farms=E2=80=9D?  And town dumps =E2=80=9Cgarbage f=
arms=E2=80=9D?  And sewers =E2=80=9Cunderwater waste farms=E2=80=9D?  Who s=
ays farming is in trouble?
>
> LH
>
>> On Feb 16, 2017, at 11:23 AM, Joel Berson <berson at ATT.NET> wrote:
>>
>> A quick peek into the Boston Globe shows an instance on Jan. 21,1970, in=
 a picture caption:
>>
>> "Boston's snow farm in the Seaport District kept getting bigger."
>>
>> Another winter storm slams Boston (Photo 4 of 57) - Pictures - The Bosto=
n Globe
>>
>>
>> |
>> |
>> |
>> |  |    |
>>
>>  |
>>
>>  |
>> |
>> |  |
>> Another winter storm slams Boston (Photo 4 of 57) - Pictures - The Bosto=
n ...
>>  |  |
>>
>>  |
>>
>>  |
>>
>>
>>
>> And there are many instances from the notorious season of 2014--2015.
>>
>> Google Books seems tedious, since (as far as I know) it doesn't respect =
capitalization.
>>
>>
>> The "Lexicon" column in today's Boston Globe defines it as "Where blizza=
rds go to die."  Is it a Bostonism?
>>
>>
>> Joel
>>
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