[Ads-l] Fw: Possible Antedating of "Blow Job"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Thanks for the kind words, Fred. I wish I could have finished it.

If Jesse's 1944 ex. was coined at Muroc, the plane in question was
undoubtedly the Bell P-59 Airacomet. Designed a fighter, it was used only
for training, because its performance was still somewhat inferior to the
most advanced U.S. piston-engined fighters.

JL

On Mon, Jun 6, 2022 at 7:37 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

> I should add, of course, that Lighter's Historical Dictionary of American
> Slang is one of the greatest historical-lexicograhical masterpieces of all
> time.  I was just noting that the OED is more conservative in its dating
> policies than Lighter.  The same is probably true of the OED versus
> Jonathon Green.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM>
> Sent: Monday, June 6, 2022 6:26 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: Possible Antedating of "Blow Job"
>
> I don't have Legman's _No Laughing Matter_ handy to check the context of
> the 1942 quote in HDAS (in my experience Legman is very reliable about
> bibliographic matters) but here's a 1944 discussing the coinage of the jet
> aviation sense:
>
> 1944 _Aviation Week_ 13 Nov. 12/2 (in box): [heading] "Blow Jobs" [body]
> Credit Army Air Force squadrons based at Muroc Army Air Field and other
> Mojave Desert bases with having coined the name that doubtless will tag
> American jet propulsion fighter trainers wherever they appear. Well out of
> the experimental phase of testing, the JP's are engaging daily in the
> tactical training of bombing and fighter groups in California skies. To
> flight and ground crews alike the jet fighter trainers are "blow jobs".
>
> Jesse Sheidlower
>
> On Mon, Jun 06, 2022 at 10:08:11PM +0000, Bill Mullins wrote:
> > I wonder if the following 1945 quotes, given their military context
> (referring to the new P-80 jet planes), should be taken as evidence of
> earlier usage.
> >
> > 1945 NY Herald Tribune 1 Aug. 5/1
> >
> > It sucks air in at the front and blows it out at the end faster than it
> came in.  It's a blow job.  It simply blows itself forward.
> >
> > 1945 NY Times 1 Aug. 4/6
> >
> > Col. Homer S. Boushey, commanding the training group, declared that
> basically the "blow job" as the jet plane is called, was simpler to fly
> than the conventional airplane.
> >
> > (The articles don't say if Col. Boushey sniggered as he made these
> statements . . . . )
> >
> > >
> > > blow job (OED 1961)
> > >
> > > 1947 George Grieg _Frantic_ 8 (Archives of Sexuality and Gender)  I
> wonder if
> > > any of those girls would give me a blow job ?
> > >
> > > NOTE:  I am not sure whether this is the earliest known citation for
> this term,
> > > because Jonathan Lighter's datings are less rigorous than those in the
> OED, and
> > > I don't know whether the OED would agree with his 1942 and 1945
> datings of
> > > citations in HDAS.
> > >
> > > Fred Shapiro
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> >
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