[Ads-l] Word: pantser, seat-of-the-pants, seat-of-the-pantser

Tue Mar 29 19:37:53 UTC 2022

Thanks for your responses, MAM and LH.

"pants" and "depants" are a pair of words that look like antonyms but
are actually synonyms.

Green’s Dictionary of Slang has the following citation for "pants"
with the sense mentioned by LH.
https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/cpga4dq

[Begin excerpt]
pants v.
(mainly juv.) to remove someone’s trousers whether they like it or not.

1945 [US] in G. Legman Limerick (1953) 339: He’d catch something neat
/ In a Pullman retreat, / Say ‘How do you do?’ and then pants it.
[End excerpt]

Here is a citation for "depants" which I am sure can be antedated.

Year: 2005
Title: Bullying From Both Sides
Author: Walter B. Roberts, Jr.
Quote Page 85
Database: Google Books Preview

[Begin excerpt]
At some point during the delay, a decision was made to depants one of
the new team members. A ruckus ensued at the back of the bus and soon,
after quite a struggle, the deed was completed.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Tue, Mar 29, 2022 at 11:33 AM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
>
> or "pantser" = 'one who pants' (from the transitive verb "to pants", which
> I learned in summer camp, not the intransitive "to pant").
>
> Merriam-Webster online, s.v. "pants":
>
> transitive verb <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transitive>
> US,  informal : to yank down the pants of (someone) as a prank or jokeSandler
> plays Dave Buznik, a Brooklyn-born wimp, a patsy, a schlemiel so
> mild-mannered he makes other people want to pants him.
> No separate entry for the agentive noun, but it's a productive process...
> LH
>
> On Tue, Mar 29, 2022 at 11:19 AM Mark Mandel <markamandel at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Not to be confused with "Panzer".
> >
> > MAM
> > gdaravvf*
> >
> > * grin, duck, and run away very very fast
> >
> > On Tue, Mar 29, 2022, 6:04 AM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com
> > >
> > wrote:
> >
> > > The lecturer in a YouTube video I watched recently discussed different
> > > strategies for writing novels. A "plotter" creates a detailed outline
> > > specifying the characters and story arcs. A "pantser" uses a
> > > seat-of-the-pants methodology. The characters, events, and plot are
> > > discovered via the writing process.
> > >
> > > The word "pantser" is listed in neither the Oxford English Dictionary
> > > nor Green's Dictionary of Slang. The OED does have this entry:
> > >
> > > [Begin excerpt]
> > > seat-of-the-pants, adj.
> > > Of a person: tending to act instinctively, spontaneously, or
> > > expediently. Of an activity: done on the basis of practical experience
> > > rather than technical knowledge; informal; inexact.
> > > [End excerpt]
> > >
> > > The OED's first citation for "seat-of-the-pants" is dated 1935. Here
> > > is a 1932 antedating.
> > >
> > > Date: July 3, 1932
> > > Newspaper: The Atlanta Constitution
> > > Newspaper Location: Atlanta, Georgia
> > > Article: Teaching the Pilot To Fly Blind
> > > Author: Hugh Sexton
> > > Section: Sunday Magazine
> > > Quote Page 4, Column 1
> > > Database: Newspapers.com
> > >
> > > [Begin excerpt]
> > > They all learned to fly, however, by the "seat of the pants" method,
> > > as they describe flying by instinct, and are starting all over again
> > > to learn the new instrument flying.
> > > [End excerpt]
> > >
> > > The phrase "seat-of-the-pantser" was in circulation by 1959 although
> > > the first spelling I encountered used a "z" instead of an "s". The
> > > domain was amateur driving at a sports car event:
> > >
> > > Date: October 28, 1959
> > > Newspaper: Oakland Tribune
> > > Newspaper Location:
> > > Article: Sports Car Events
> > > Quote Page 58D, Column 1 and 2
> > > Database: Newspapers.com
> > >
> > > [Begin excerpt]
> > > Rally: 1: Buccaneer's Rally. For seniors, novices, Seat-of-the-Pantzers.
> > > [End excerpt]
> > >
> > > The first instance of "pantser" I located appeared in a 1994 book by
> > > entrepreneur Jim Schell. Schell created the word via truncation
> > > (although earlier instances may exist). He used the word in the
> > > business domain:
> > >
> > > [ref] 1994 (1993 Copyright), The Brass-Tacks Entrepreneur by Jim
> > > Schell, Chapter 1: Not Every Small Businessman Is an Entrepreneur,
> > > Quote Page 5 and 6, Henry Holt and Company, New York. (Verified with
> > > scans) [/ref]
> > >
> > > [Begin excerpt from page 5]
> > > My favorite? Seat-of-the-pantser. The Gospel of Basic Business
> > > Strategies According to Matulef: no policy manuals, no precedents, no
> > > logical order. As in, straight from the seat of the pants. OK,
> > > seat-of-the-pantser is too long, with too many syllables. We'll
> > > shorten it to pantser.
> > > [End excerpt]
> > >
> > > [Begin excerpt from page 6]
> > > The pantser is an unsophisticated, entry-level small business owner
> > > and is not to be confused with the more sophisticated entrepreneur.
> > > The pantser's primary business motivations are survival and
> > > sustenance, the entrepreneur's creativity and growth.
> > > [End excerpt]
> > >
> > > Garson O'Toole
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > 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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