[Ads-l] antedating "commie"

[Laurence Horn]

For which the corresponding diminutive/hypocoristic is
"Bolsh(e)y"/"Bolshie". As you point out in HDAS, that's attested from a
1919 letter by Carl Sandburg, with the spelling bolshie. That term (with
lower case, in adjectival use) has undergone a shift especially in British
slang, so that current dictionaries provide 'uncooperative, obstreperous,
combative' as the primary sense. Perhaps there's some blocking in the
earlier ideological meaning by "commie", but I'm not sure that's as robust
a slur in the U.K. as it is in (post-McCarthy) U.S. usage.

LH



On Sat, Sep 17, 2022 at 11:56 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
wrote:

> 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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