[Ads-l] Antedating of "Nitty Gritty"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Modern use seems to be solely "THE nitty-gritty."

JL

On Mon, Feb 14, 2022 at 8:47 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Fred Shapiro wrote:
> > nitty gritty (OED 1940)
> > 1934 Washington Tribune 26 Apr. 18/7 (Readex)  Gable ... has the art of
> hitch-hiking down to a nitty-gritty.
>
> A brilliant antedater posted this citation back in 2018.
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2018-September/152812.html
>
> On Mon, Feb 14, 2022 at 8:20 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
> wrote:
> >
> > Part of Merriam-Webster's definition of "nitty gritty" is "specific
> practical details."  The 1935 citation is about specific practical
> details.  The sentence after the one I quoted is: "He even has the various
> thumb movements classified."
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Mark Mandel <markamandel at GMAIL.COM>
> > Sent: Monday, February 14, 2022 7:45 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Subject: Re: Antedating of "Nitty Gritty"
> >
> > Which is significantly different from the modern meaning:
> > >>>>>
> > the nitty-gritty
> > ...
> > the basic facts of a situation:
> > *Let's get down to the nitty-gritty - how much will it cost?*
> > <<<<<
> > [
> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdictionary.cambridge.org%2Fus%2Fdictionary%2Fenglish%2Fnitty-gritty&data=04%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C8b4312b22e054674d2cf08d9f01c79a8%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637804827489172428%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=ppqWJjDp%2FLo%2Fi3xEjrpikNBzJZZroEQ4iaV7ck9ZzGY%3D&reserved=0
> ]
> >
> > MAM
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Feb 14, 2022, 10:44 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
> wrote:
> >
> > > nitty gritty (OED 1940)
> > >
> > > 1934 Washington Tribune 26 Apr. 18/7 (Readex)  Gable ... has the art of
> > > hitch-hiking down to a nitty-gritty.
> > >
> > > Fred Shapiro
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > 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%7C8b4312b22e054674d2cf08d9f01c79a8%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637804827489172428%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=Y5HMLnDQaiRDAXj9DATv15HGyFLnPe6I44DlbLdDZQs%3D&reserved=0
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > 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%7C8b4312b22e054674d2cf08d9f01c79a8%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637804827489172428%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=Y5HMLnDQaiRDAXj9DATv15HGyFLnPe6I44DlbLdDZQs%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