[Ads-l] antedating "commie"

[Shapiro, Fred]

Doesn't the OED have a 1928 citation for the noun ?

Fred Shapiro


________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Saturday, September 17, 2022 10:56 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: antedating "commie"

Thanks, G !

What with the Decatur Commies, the marble commies, and "Commy" Comiskey
already in circulation, I suspect there's a pre-'31 somewhere.

The usual 1920's synonym, however, was "Bolsheviks."

JL

JL

On Sat, Sep 17, 2022 at 10:24 AM ADSGarson O'Toole <
adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:

> I meant to say: Excellent citation JL.
> Garson
>
> On Sat, Sep 17, 2022 at 10:17 AM ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > 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."
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
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"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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