[Ads-l] Slight antedating of "Grim Reaper"

Shapiro, Fred fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU
Fri Nov 6 23:04:48 UTC 2020


Here's one a little earlier:

Grim Reaper (OED 1847)

1846 _Nassau Monthly_ Dec. 137 (ProQuest)  Once more did we hear the sad echo of a friend's farewell, and catch a glimpse of the grim reaper, Death.

Fred Shapiro


To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Slight antedating of "Grim Reaper"

This almost identical to the OED's initial cite, but about a month earlier:

1847 _Evening Courier_ (Milwaukee) (March 8) 2: IRISH RELIEF MEETING ...
Famine, the grim Reaper, is gathering a horrid human harvest, amid the
blight and devastation of nature.

JL

"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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