[Ads-l] Antedating of "Malapropism"

Thu Jan 12 23:35:40 UTC 2023

Well spotted, Garson (may I call you Garson?).

Not to "quibble or retract any praise" (well, I hope not to quibble
annoyingly, and certainly not to retract any praise), but I've read
(somewhere) that part of OED's editorial policy relates to avoiding
historical inaccuracies when using earlier dates for sources that
might include later changes; the OED editors and lexicographers
rigorously check, or they did at one time, against the possibility
of silent emendation. The policy aims to preserve the accuracy of
word histories.

I don't know if the issue matters to you at all. For my part, I tend
to use the date of publication to date citations, in this case as an
unnecessary hedge against the possibility that the editor of the
_Athenaeum_ altered the published version of the diary, or against
the possibility the diary was fabricated in order to "fill" the
issue.

Not that I'm claiming to be consistent; if it seems the editorial
pen has been light or absent entirely, and especially if there's a
reason to use conjectured dates (to support or contradict some
thesis about word use in the context of a historical event, for
example), I'm just as likely to use whatever earlier date I feel I
can adequately justify.

For the case at hand, of course, there's no reason to suppose the
editor of the _Athenaeum_ altered or contrived the material at all,
and so the earlier date (1825) is entirely likely.  Equally, it is
worthwhile to be reminded that any appearance in print is likely to
have been preceded by use in spoken language, not to mention
preceded by undiscovered print appearances.

On 1/12/23 12:15, ADSGarson O'Toole wrote:
> The citation James Eric Lawson found in the January 1826 issue of “The
> London Magazine” is a diary for the month of December (according to
> its title). The word “malapropism” appears in the entry for the 13th.
> Thus, “malapropism” was apparently written on December 13, 1925.
> Therefore this citation probably should be considered an antedating.
> 
> Date: January 1, 1826
> Periodical: The London Magazine
> Article: Diary of "A Constant Reader" for the Month of December
> Start Page 76, Quote Page 82
> Diary Entry for December 13, 1825
> https://books.google.com/books?id=gQEFAAAAQAAJ&q=%22this+malapropism%22#v=snippet&
> 
> [Begin excerpt – double check for OCR errors]
> In an account of a little piece at the Adelphi, called Success, (a
> quiz on the press,) the New Times represents "The Observer and
> Thespian Sentinel, as trying a close bout of manual espionage," "A
> close bout of manual espionage!" What in the name of refinement does
> the accomplished critic mean? Lady Morgan, in her happiest moments of
> French, never surpassed this malapropism.
> [End excerpt]
> 
> Garson
> 
> 
> On Thu, Jan 12, 2023 at 12:12 PM James Eric Lawson <jel at nventure.com> wrote:
>>
>> I suppose these might be equidatings of Fred Shapiro's 1826 find:
>>
>> Diary of a Constant Reader
>> Type: Journal Article
>> Author: John Taylor
>> Author: John Scott
>> URL:
>> https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433081672085&view=1up&seq=94&q1=malapropism
>> Volume: 4
>> Issue: January 1826
>> Pages: 82
>> Publication: The London magazine.
>> Date: 1826 Jan
>> Place: London
>> Publisher: Hunt and Clarke
>> Accessed: 1/11/2023, 10:03:35 PM
>> Archive: HathiTrust
>>
>>       Extract: “A close bout of manual espionage!” What in the name of
>>       refinement does the accomplished critic mean? Lady Morgan, in
>>       her happiest moments of French, never surpassed this
>>       malapropism.
>>
>>       Term: malapropism
>>
>> Mathews At Home
>> Type: Journal Article
>> Author: John Taylor
>> Author: John Scott
>> URL:
>> https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015033845564&view=1up&seq=459&q1=malapropisms
>> Volume: 4
>> Issue: April, 1826
>> Pages: 558
>> Date: 1826 Apr
>> Extra:
>> Place: London
>> Publisher: Printed for Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy etc..
>> Accessed: 1/11/2023, 9:29:17 PM
>> Archive: HathiTrust
>>
>>       Extract: Thus, in the personation of one Giblets, an ignorant
>>       and self-complacent cit, an electioneering speech is put into
>>       his mouth, which is nothing but a continued series of
>>       Malapropisms, to the outrage of all nature and probability.
>>
>>       Term: malapropism
>>
>>
>> On 1/11/23 11:14, James Eric Lawson wrote:
>>> "...far-fetched Malapropism [sc. cocularity]...subsequently killed, as
>>> boatswain of a line-of-battle ship."
>>>
>>> https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433008489191&view=1up&seq=145&q1=far-fetched
>>>
>>> On 1/11/23 10:53, Shapiro, Fred wrote:
>>>> malapropism (OED 1830)
>>>>
>>>> 1826 Naval Sketch-Book (2nd ed.) 1:146 (Google Books)  This is no
>>>> far-fetched Malapropism; the man who made use of this expression was
>>>> subsequently killed.
>>>>
>>>> Fred Shapiro
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>
>> --
>> James Eric Lawson
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

-- 
James Eric Lawson

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