[Ads-l] retcon

[Ben Zimmer]

The problem is that rec.arts.comics, like many other newsgroups, is not
comprehensively covered by the Google Groups archive before 1990. That
spottiness is borne out by the fact that the earliest cite for "retcon" in
OED3/HDSF (Aug. 15, 1989) is from rec.arts.sf-lovers and
not rec.arts.comics, where everyone says it originated. If we were able to
access another archive of rec.arts.comics posts from the late '80s, I'm
betting that Cugley's claim would be confirmed.

More from Cugley here: https://alleged.org.uk/pdc/2012/12/03.html
He writes: "I would like to cite my original USENET postings, but alas! I
have not been able to roll back Google’s USENET archives (now part of
Google groups) further back than 1990."

While I'm griping about Google Groups... I can't even find that 8/15/89
rec.arts.sf-lovers post in the current archive. Can anyone else get to it?

1989   Re: New Star Wars Film? in rec.arts.sf-lovers (Usenet newsgroup) 15
Aug.   Lucas retconned the opening credits after the release of TESB, once
it was clear that the films were doing well enough that the first set would
be completed.

--bgz

On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 9:21 AM Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com> wrote:

> Cugley's 1988 use is a claim, not a citation; as Wikipedia points out,
> there's no solid evidence for it. In a (real) 1990 Usenet post Cugley
> claimed to be the originator. If anyone has the 1988 cite I'd love to see
> it!
>
> Jesse Sheidlower
>
> On Thu, May 13, 2021 at 05:09:02AM -0700, Nancy Friedman wrote:
> > I wrote about an earlier citation (1988) in a 2013 blog post:
> >
> https://nancyfriedman.typepad.com/away_with_words/2013/12/word-of-the-week-retcon.html
> >
> > On Thu, May 13, 2021, 3:46 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Charlie Sykes, MSNBC:
> > >
> > > "They're trying to find a way to rationalize [Jan. 6]: 'Well, it
> wasn't so
> > > bad.' This is called 'retconning' - you simply rewrite the history. You
> > > pretend that what happened didn't happen, and you put your own spin on
> it."
> > >
> > > OED: (1989):
> > >
> > > "To revise retrospectively (an aspect of a fictional work or series),
> > > typically by means of a revelation which imposes a different
> interpretation
> > > on previously described events."
> > >
> > > It ain't just for fiction any more. And you don't need a "revelation."
> > >
> > > Just lie.
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > --
> > > "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
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
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