[Ads-l] Antedating of "Gaydar"

[Shapiro, Fred]

When I post an antedating on ADS-L, it is not a disappointment to me when someone else improves upon the antedating.  In fact, I take pleasure in the advancement of knowledge and take pride in my having instigated productive research on the term in question.  It is only in major instances, where for example I have had the New York Times write up my discovery and someone else improves upon it, that I feel any chagrin.


Fred Shapiro



________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of David Kendal <me at DPK.IO>
Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2017 5:20 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Antedating of "Gaydar"

Alas, I have to disappoint you again — GDoS has this 1982 citation:

1982 [US] D. Shewey in Village Voice (N.Y.) 11 Feb. 42: But the fear of
gay men is not to be discounted. My gaydar tells me that up to 30 per
cent of the men at the Santa Fe and New York weekends are gay, bisexual,
or undeclared.


Incidentally, I forgot to mention in my previous email that today is
the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offences Act 1967, which partially
decriminalized homosexual acts in England and Wales for the first time.

The bill's sponsor in the House of Lords, the 8th Earl of Arran, later
introduced another bill on badger conservation which failed. When asked
why the controversial gay rights bill had passed while the seemingly
benign nature conservation one failed, he allegedly said: ‘There are not
many badgers in the House of Lords.’ The earliest citation I can find
for this quote is only from 1978, though, and puts the words in someone
else’s mouth, not his:
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__books.google.de_books-3Fid-3D85BJAQAAIAAJ-26q-3D-2522badgers-2Bin-2Bthe-2Bhouse-2Bof-2Blords-2522&d=DwIFaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=fA3T4uAm2gJS6K8eux_g80UR5n-rtd2GpmRMO1hHScg&m=R4T1E8p_cRCDYZJ4Ak8YHBNIJYucIvuRrO7FX8dLDSU&s=xk-IVTd_mq31eBRizubSXntKBJtdpoJyxFHphOuZUVE&e= >

Perhaps off-topic for the *American* Dialect Society list, but leads
would nonetheless be appreciated.

--
dpk (David P. Kendal) · Nassauische Str. 36, 10717 DE · https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__dpk.io_&d=DwIFaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=fA3T4uAm2gJS6K8eux_g80UR5n-rtd2GpmRMO1hHScg&m=R4T1E8p_cRCDYZJ4Ak8YHBNIJYucIvuRrO7FX8dLDSU&s=AdE4jzwlZn7uKIqOzDZD7-dBDcbd33QS3gZ9r7fTNWk&e=
  The House of Commons [is] like Noah’s Ark—a few men & many beasts.
                                             — Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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