[Ads-l] Slight Antedating of "AIDS

[Ben Zimmer]

_And the Band Played On_  isn't very specific about the coinage of "AIDS,"
which replaced "GRID" (gay-related immune deficiency).

https://books.google.com/books?id=cGNetxKuLnMC&pg=PA171
"Somebody [at the CDC] finally suggested the name that stuck: Acquired
Immune Deficiency Syndrome. That gave the epidemic a snappy acronym, AIDS,
and was sexually neutral." (p. 171)

That appears in the entry for July 27, 1982, which happens to be the day
the Boston Globe article Fred found was published. But now we've got an
antedating for "AIDS" from the Bay Area Reporter back to Apr. 8, so that
date might not be so significant.

Shilts doesn't mention another proposed acronym, "AID," which appeared in
the New York Times on May 11, 1982.

https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/11/science/new-homosexual-disorder-worries-health-officials.html
"Researchers call it A.I.D., for acquired immunodeficiency disease, or
GRID, for gay-related immunodeficiency."

--bgz

On Sun, Jan 16, 2022 at 2:56 PM James Landau <
00000c13e57d49b8-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> On Aun, 16 Jan 2022 01:40:01 zone+0000  "Shapiro, Fred" <
> fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU> wrote:<begin quote>
> AIDS (OED 1982 Aug.)
>
> 1982 Boston Globe 27 July 4/1 (Newspapers.com)  The disorder has been
> named Acquired Immunodeficiency Disease Syndrome, or AIDS.
>
> <end quote>
> If memory serves, the book  _And the Band Played On_ by Randy Shilts gives
> the events leading up to the coining of the term "AIDS"
>
>
>

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