[Ads-l] gobsmacked antedatings?

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Excellent finds, Stephen. The two earliest instances of "gobsmacked"
you found are genuine. See the article titles for information about
the context.

Date: March 25, 1925
Newspaper: The Skegness Standard
County: Lincolnshire, England
Article: THINGS WE WANT TO KNOW
Quote Page 2, Column 7
Database: britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

[Begin excerpt – double check for errors]
What the "deah boy" and the "comrides" were thinking about to get into
the unhitched coach on the 8.30 train the other night?

And if they didn't feel a bit 'gobsmacked' when the discovery was made
that the rest of the train had gone without them?

And whether the ticket-collector has stopped laughing yet?
[End excerpt]

Date: July 31, 1926
Newspaper: The Yorkshire Evening Post
County: West Yorkshire, England
Article: A Tale of the West: No. 2. Impersonating Girl to Deceive Admirer
Quote Page 5, Column 1
Database: britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

[Begin excerpt – double check for errors]
A VAIN PROTEST

"Great Scot, Jim. . . . (I felt gobsmacked.) I might try it tor one
night all right, but for nights on end—why, man, it's impossible. I
ain't a miracle. . . I ain't the young British cove Henry Irving jest
discovered."
[End excerpt]

The first citation in the OED is dated 1956.  Merriam-Webster suggests
the same year.

[Begin excerpt]
gobsmacked, adj.
Chiefly predicative. Flabbergasted, astounded; speechless or
incoherent with amazement.

1956   'J. Reynolds' Woman of Bangkok 46   I'm so amazed that only the
Malderbury dialect can express my condition: I'm 'properly
gob-smacked'.
[End excerpt]

Garson


On Wed, Apr 11, 2018 at 9:14 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:
> Attested in dictionaries from the 1950s, gobsmacked maybe appears earlier in non-confirmed but
>
> perhaps plausible-looking OCR snippets at British Newspaper Archive, in case anyone (subscribing) is interested in confirming.
>
> I don't need the images, and merely wandered there during an *unlikely* attempt to see if codswallop were somehow related.
>
> Unconfirmed passages from northern England papers:
>
>
> And they didn't feel a bit *gobsmack* , d‘ when the discovery was made that thn rest of the tram had gone without them?
> Published: Wednesday 25 March 1925
> Newspaper: Skegness Standard<https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results?newspaperTitle=Skegness%20Standard>
> County: Lincolnshire, England
>
> Great Scot, Jim. felt gobsmacked.) might try it tor one night all right, but lor nights on end—why, roan, it's impossible. ain't miracle
> ublished: Saturday 31 July 1926
> Newspaper: Yorkshire Evening Post<https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results?newspaperTitle=Yorkshire%20Evening%20Post>
> County: West Yorkshire, England
>
> Woman, and ' she cry; cry; cry' breathed in the Steward s accents. I'm bet. Gobsmacked.
> Published: Friday 01 May 1936
> Newspaper: Hull Daily Mail<https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results?newspaperTitle=Hull%20Daily%20Mail>
> County: East Riding of Yorkshire, England
>
> Basil on the heead. says, gawstaring like an owd cockerel crawin’ an' winking at Betsy agccao. Well, mester. Ah were (air gobsmacked at them letters an’ tonned 'em oarer ageran an’ agccan. Its a fair likker to me. says.
> Published: Wednesday 10 November 1937
> Newspaper: Skegness Standard<https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results?newspaperTitle=Skegness%20Standard>
> County: Lincolnshire, England
>
> Stephen Goranson
> o   r   i   g   i   n       k   i   b   o   s   h
> http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/
>
>
>
>
>
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