[Ads-l] Antedating of "What's Up, Doc?"

[Shapiro, Fred]

Thanks for setting me straight, Ben.  I did do some searching to see if Capt. Persinger could have been a medical doctor, but I didn't think to check whether "Doc" was a nickname specific to him.

Fred Shapiro



________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Sunday, May 8, 2022 2:56 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Antedating of "What's Up, Doc?"

"Doc" indeed was a known nickname for Capt. Persinger, as noted in this
item from the Staunton (Va.) Spectator from Dec. 1872.

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On Sun, May 8, 2022 at 2:45 PM Mark Mandel <markamandel at gmail.com> wrote:

> But then why "'Doc'", in its own single-quote marks? Unless it was a known
> nickname of his, for whatever reason. MAM
>
> On Sun, May 8, 2022, 12:10 PM Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > What's up, 'Doc' ?
> >
> > Given that _Doc_ is separated from the rest of the phrase by quotes,
> could
> > not this also be taken as an early example of simple _What's up?_ as a
> > greeting/(rhetorical) question/catch-phrase or some other shxt like 'at?
> >
> > On Sun, May 8, 2022 at 10:45 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > The March 2022 release of new words in the OED spotlights "what's up,
> > > doc?," with a first use of 1935.  Here is an earlier citation.  There
> is
> > no
> > > reason to believe that Persinger was a doctor.
> > >
> > > 1882 _Staunton_ (Va.) _Spectator_ 5 Sept. 3/1 (Newspapers.com)  The
> > > Alleghany _Tribune_ has this paragraph: "A beautiful black-eyed
> Staunton
> > > lady's presence in Clifton Forge is surmised to be the reason of Capt.
> > > Persinger's absence from the Cave at this particular juncture. At all
> > > events the smiles of joy that adorned his face evidenced that he was
> > > peculiarly satisfied with himself and the rest of mankind on this
> > > particular visit. What's up, 'Doc' ?"
>
>

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