[Ads-l] Gitmo (1945)

Fri Sep 23 17:45:18 UTC 2022

Makes me think of Asimov's joke.
DanG

On Fri, Sep 23, 2022 at 11:07 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Great sleuthing, Ben, and thanks for the plug!
>
> Not that it's very meaningful at this point, but from deep in the recesses
> of memory, I suddenly recall that Oscar Brand released an album around
> 1960  that included a whole song about Guantanamo Bay. I used to memorize
> such stuff (including TV western theme songs) and IIRC, Brand's song -
> which he wrote he'd learned from a Guantanamo veteran - began,
>
> At Guantanamo Bay, call it Gitmo for short,
> Not much of a base and much less of a port....
>
> The tune was "The Irish Washerwoman."
>
> JL
>
>
> On Fri, Sep 23, 2022 at 7:54 AM dave at wilton.net <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
>
> >
> > I routinely saw "GTMO" in the addressee line of radio-telegraph
> > communications when I was in the Army in the late 80s. So, it was a
> > standard abbreviation as late as that.
> >
> > (I had nothing to do with Guantanamo and my service predates the prison
> > there, but the base would appear in lists of military facilities copied
> on
> > messages.)
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: "Ben Zimmer" <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM>
> > Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2022 4:35pm
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Gitmo (1945)
> >
> >
> >
> > Here's a non-paywalled link to my Wall St. Journal column for this week:
> > https://on.wsj.com/3dyKQS7
> >
> > I credited JL for his great research on "Gtmo."/"GTMO"/"Gitmo," and I
> also
> > managed to find a slightly earlier example of the "Gtmo." abbreviation,
> > from the same Cuban Health Department bulletin that was the source of
> JL's
> > 1919 example.
> >
> > ---
> > https://books.google.com/books?id=TzRwPckfTmEC&pg=PA404
> > Salubridad y Asistencia Social, Oct. 1917, p. 404
> > Guantánamo 5 de octubre de 1917. [...] Dr. Villuendas. Comisionado
> > Especial. Jefatura L. Sanidad. Gtmo. Recibido su telegrama de hoy punto.
> > Ratifícole que el Dr. Espín continúa auxiliándole esa campaña
> acompañándolo
> > donde sea conveniente pues se le ha relevado de comisión que se le confió
> > en Baracoa. He ordenado pásese circular a casas de salud, clínicas y
> > Hospitales Provincia de Camagüey y Oriente preparen pabellones adecuados
> > para recibir palúdicos. Asimismo, he ordenado no se den altas enfermos
> > hasta que por periódicos exámenes sangre se demuestre completo
> > restablecimiento. F. Méndez Capote Director, Sanidad Y. B.
> > ---
> >
> > This reproduces the text of a telegram -- it makes sense that
> "Guantanamo"
> > was originally shortened to "Gtmo." for telegraphic purposes.
> >
> > --bgz
> >
> > On Wed, Sep 21, 2022 at 11:16 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > In another bygone thread, Doug Wilson noted the variant spelling of
> > > "Getmo" and gave a cite from 1957.
> > >
> > > https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2005-May/050150.html
> > >
> > > Here's "Getmo" from 1946:
> > >
> > > https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109978374/getmo-bay/
> > > Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal, Mar. 7, 1946, p. 21, col. 1
> > > Now he's 18 and has been in the navy 14 months.... he's at Getmo Bay,
> > > Cuba.
> > >
> > > The presence of "Gitmo" and "Getmo" early on supports the idea that
> we're
> > > dealing with pronunciation spellings of an abbreviation treated as an
> > > acronym.
> > >
> > > --bgz
> > >
> > > On Mon, Sep 19, 2022 at 7:34 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > >> Indeed, JL, I should have noted that you shared cites for the
> > >> "Gtmo./GTMO" abbreviation going back to 1919 as part of that 2010
> > thread.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> >
> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2010-February/096302.html
> > >>
> > >> You also wrote that "use of the word [Gitmo] is unlikely to antedate
> > >> 1942."
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> >
> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2010-February/096316.html
> > >>
> > >> 1945 is still the date to beat for "Gitmo" as an acronym-style word
> > >> rather than the earlier abbreviation on which it was based. I'm
> > >> investigating the history of "Gitmo" for my Wall Street Journal column
> > this
> > >> week, so any additional research findings would be much appreciated.
> > >>
> > >> --Ben
> > >>
> > >> On Mon, Sep 19, 2022 at 7:16 PM Jonathan Lighter <
> > wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > >> wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> Undoubtedly rather older. "Gtmo" had been a usual abbreviation for
> many
> > >>> years.
> > >>>
> > >>> 1919 _Salubridad y Asistencia Social_ XXI 221 [Google Books]: Gtmo.
> > Sugar
> > >>> Co. 1920 _A List, with Brief Records, of the Alumni and Students of
> > >>> Hampden-Sidney College, Virginia, who Served in the World War_
> > (Richmond,
> > >>> Va.: pvtly. ptd.) 54: WHALEY, John Hughes (Ex. '18) : ... overseas 6
> > >>> months 7th Regiment, U. S. Marines, Cuba; 14 months Naval Dispensary,
> > >>> Gtmo.
> > >>> Bay, Cuba; 4 months U. S. S. Arkansas; promoted ph. m-1; discharged
> > >>> Receiving Ship, Washington, D. C, Aug. 5, 1919. 1933 _The Daily
> > Gleaner_
> > >>> (Kingston, Jamaica) (June 10) 2: IN MEMORIAM In loving memory of my
> > >>> beloved
> > >>> husband, Richard E. Johnston, who fell asleep in the Arms of Jesus on
> > the
> > >>> 10th June, 1931 at Gtmo, Cuba. 1945 _Troy_ (N.Y.)_ Record _ (Apr. 12)
> > >>> 20:
> > >>> Having volunteered for foreign duty, she was sent to the GTMO Naval
> > Base
> > >>> in
> > >>> Cuba at the end of her basic training [in 1943].
> > >>>
> > >>> JL
> > >>>
> > >>> On Mon, Sep 19, 2022 at 12:04 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > >>>
> > >>> > Bill Mullins previously shared two cites for "Gitmo" as shorthand
> for
> > >>> > "Guantanamo Bay" from 1947.
> > >>> >
> > >>> >
> > >>>
> >
> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2005-November/055506.html
> > >>> >
> > >>>
> >
> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2010-February/096311.html
> > >>> >
> > >>> > Here it is a couple of years earlier.
> > >>> >
> > >>> > ---
> > >>> > https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109793395/gitmo/
> > >>> > Boston Globe, Aug. 6, 1945, p. 5, col. 2
> > >>> > Martin Sheridan, "School in Jap Warfare Is Run at Guantanamo"
> > >>> > And during that month everyone must familiarize himself with every
> > >>> detail,
> > >>> > because once the ship shoves off for "Gitmo" she must undergo a
> > >>> gruelling
> > >>> > final examination.
> > >>> > ---
> > >>> >
> > >>>
> > >>
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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