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

Wed Jan 13 16:44:15 UTC 2021

The news story about the coin with "U. S. for United States" appeared
a couple months earlier in a newspaper in England on January 27, 1786.

Date: 27 January 1786
Newspaper: The Lincoln, Rutland and Stamford Mercury
Newspaper Location: Lincolnshire, England
Article: Thursday and Friday Posts [Received by Express from London]
Quote Page 3, Column 2
Database: British Newspaper Archive

[Begin excerpt]
We hear that at Greenwich forty ton of copper is now coining into half
pence, for the use of the American States; on one side an eye of
Providence, with Thirteen Stars; the reverse U. S. for United States.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Wed, Jan 13, 2021 at 8:33 AM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Excellent work. An article from 1786 indicated that the abbreviation
> U.S. for United States was about to be employed on new coins. I just
> found this article via a search query in newspapers.com, but I noticed
> that article was clipped back in June 2020.
>
> Date: 29 May 1786,
> Newspaper: The Vermont Journal
> Newspaper Location: Windsor, Vermont
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53536368/the-vermont-journal/
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> We are informed, that at Greenwich, in England, forty tons of copper
> is now coining into half pence, for the use of the American States: On
> one side an Eye of Providence, with thirteen Stars ; the reverse U. S.
> for United States.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Tue, Jan 12, 2021 at 10:12 PM Jonathan Lighter
> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > I
> > Here's another good one:
> >
> > 1792  The House, by message, had informed the Senate, that THE PRESIDENT of
> > the U.S. had signed the Post-Office Act.
> >
> > II
> > This is undoubtedly for "United States Army":
> >
> > 1814 _Baltimore Telegraph_ (Dec. 23) 1: AMOS WOODWARD / Lieut. 14th Reg.
> > U.S.A.
> >
> > But this isn't:
> >
> > 1817 _Franklin Herald_ (Greenfield, Mass.) (Sept. 16) 1: John Adams, Esq. /
> > Late President, U.S.A.
> >
> > 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."
> > >
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> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> >
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