[Ads-l] Antedating of "Politically Correct" (Communist Usage)

[Shapiro, Fred]

The OED's earliest usage of the phrase "politically correct," discovered by me, is dated 1793.  The OED's definition does not focus on the second phase of "politically correct," the non-satirical Communist usage, against which the third phase of "politically correct" (satirical use by conservatives) was a reaction.  In their citations they do include a 1934 cite from a Communist context.  I would suggest that the OED definition should add a sub-sense for Communist usage.  Here is the earliest I have found for that sub-sense:

1926 _Daily Worker_ 20 July 4/6 (ProQuest)  It was not an accident but a fairly legitimate and politically correct step of the British Communist Party to issue the slogan: "All power to the general council of the trade unions."

Fred Shapiro

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