[Ads-l] Antedating "U.S."

[Jonathan Lighter]

Here's another good one:

1792 _Wood's Newark [N.J.] Gazette_ (June 21) 4: Approved May 8, 1792 / G.
WASHINGTON / President of the U.S.

JL

On Tue, Jan 12, 2021 at 4:54 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

> Wondering if either of you, or anyone else to hand, has antedates for
> U.S.A., which the OED conflates with U.S. but provides no instances of.
> Presumably they have no cites prior to 1834 or they’d have listed them.
> Just curious what the time lag was between U.S. and U.S.A., I’m guessing
> with the former at least somewhat earlier (especially since military
> contexts might be absent).
>
> LH (please excuse duplicate messages--having mailer problems)
> LH
>
> On Jan 12, 2021, at 3:22 PM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU> wrote:
>
> Great work, Jon !  Here's a slightly earlier citation:
>
> 1787 _Pittsburgh Gazette_ 3 Mar. 4/1 (America's Historical Newspapers)  W.
> FINNEY, Capt. first U. S. Reg.
> NOTE:  This occurs in a notice dated 1786.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2021 2:21 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Antedating "U.S."
>
> OED: 1834
>
> 1788 _Kentucky Gazette_ (Lexington) (Oct. 11) 1: Capt. 1st U.S. Reg.
>
> 1790 _Pennsylvania Packet_ (Phila.) (Apr. 26) 3: The bill for regulating
> the military establishment of the U.S.
>
> 1791 _Aurora General Advertiser_ (Phila.) (Dec. 6) 4: Constitution of the
> U.States....Laws of the U.S.
>
> 1797 _Hartford Courant_ (Sept. 11) 1: The part...will be lost by a division
> of the U.S.
>
> 1798  _Spooner's Vermont Journal_ (Windsor, Vt.) (July 17) 2: It will be
> proper to take into view the public audiance [sic] given to the late
> Minister of the U.S. on his taking leave of the executive directory.
>
> 1807 _Public Advertiser_ (NYC) (Jan. 20) 2:  In the House of
> Representatives of the U. States, on Thursday, Jan. 15, the bill providing
> for the punishment of certain crimes against the U.S. was read the third
> time and passed without a division.
>
> JL
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society -
>
> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40yale.edu%7C112543aca58f4f09708a08d8b72f52b6%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637460761162682566%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=KYwoh%2BFDhddSZrUh1u%2FhDHiec6tKX%2FDAm%2BIJmdVGDf4%3D&reserved=0
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


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

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org