[Ads-l] Query on Coinage of "Radar"

[Stephen Goranson]

18 November 1940
serial 069120

SG

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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2021 10:32 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Query on Coinage of "Radar"

Stack--Stark
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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2021 10:31 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Query on Coinage of "Radar"

Letter from Adm. Stack directing the use of "Approved Abbreviation" RADAR:
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.radartutorial.eu/04.history/pic/letter*20stark.big.png__;JQ!!OToaGQ!6qbDDVmkY_ePRii3aD1FciOuxGRGs4dL2ibdLygDabfFYpIXqNkGmuMSKca3VJe-$
[https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.radartutorial.eu/04.history/pic/letter*20stark.big.png__;JQ!!OToaGQ!6qbDDVmkY_ePRii3aD1FciOuxGRGs4dL2ibdLygDabfFYpIXqNkGmuMSKca3VJe-$ ]

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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2021 9:57 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Query on Coinage of "Radar"

This is the kind of question that military buffs on this list might enjoy researching.  The term "radar" has a first use of October 1941 (from the New York Times) in the Oxford English Dictionary.  I think I was the one who contributed that citation to OED.  Various sources I have looked at say that the acronym was coined by the U.S. Navy in 1940.  Can anyone point me to publications using this term before October 1941?  Classified uses that were later reprinted or cited to would also be of interest to me.

Fred Shapiro

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