[Ads-l] Gitmo (1945)

Fri Sep 23 17:57:28 UTC 2022

That's it, Jesse.

The  album's L.of C. copyright date is 1961.

JL

On Fri, Sep 23, 2022 at 1:45 PM Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > 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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