[Ads-l] antedating "commie"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Excellent citation, LH.

Green’s Dictionary of Slang has:

1939 citation for commie n. a communist
1949 citation for commie adj. communist, far-left wing.
You located a Nov 29, 1931 citation for the noun.

Here is a citation for the noun which appeared a few months earlier:

Date: June 1, 1931
Newspaper: The Militant
Newspaper Location: New York, New York
Article: Organization Notes - The Movement in Los Angeles - Los Angeles
Quote Page 7, Column 3
Database: ProQuest

[Begin excerpt]
These workers will listen attentively to any subject of working class
interest but feel an absolute hostility towards the official Communist
party. This hostility I came in contact with often throughout the
country. Down in the working class section of L. A., the party is
known as the “commies”.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sat, Sep 17, 2022 at 9:36 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 1931 _Knoxville [Tenn.] News-Sentinel_ (Nov. 29) B-5: Police Battle
> 'Commies' ...DETROIT ...Five persons, including two police, were
> injured...when Communist agitators led 2000 unemployed on Grand Circus Park.
>
> Earlier it referred to a kind of child's marble:
>
> 1923 _Plain Dealer_ (Cleveland, O.) (June 28) 26:United States marble
> championship... Harlan McCoy, 14, ...king of the commies.
>
> And to a member of the Decatur (IIlinois) Commodores, a minor league ball
> team (1900-1974):
>
> 1907 _Herald and Review_ (Decatur, Ill.) (Sept. 12) 3: Tale Of How Commies
> Lost The Pennant.
>
> 1917 Ibid. (Apr. 20) 5: "Ziggy" Scherer...formerly cavorted in the outfield
> with the Decatur Commies.
>
> Earlier still, as "Commy," the usual nickname of Charles A. Comiskey,
> player and later president of the Chicago Amerians (today's White Sox).
>
> 1890 _Sioux City Journal_ (Jan. 29) 3: And "Commy" nodded assent.
>
>
> JL
> "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

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org