[Ads-l] Antedating of "Malapropism"

Fri Jan 13 00:25:46 UTC 2023

The diary in “The London Magazine” ends with an entry dated December
22 (presumably 1825). Most periodicals are published before the cover
date (as you may know); hence, a true publication date within December
1825 (before the cover date of January 1826) seems likely.

On the other hand, there can be a long lead time when publishing a
book. The word “Malapropism” occurs in a footnote in the “Naval
Sketch-Book”. It is difficult to know when it was added to the text.

The OED might prefer to use the January 1826 date for the citation in
“The London Magazine”, or it might list both dates. I do not know
their policy. I think I've seen some diary dates in the OED.

The dates on diary entries are often accepted in the domain of
quotation research. Yet, it is true that later modifications are a
possibility as you note. I list the official date of publication and
the diary date in my QI articles.

Determining accurate dates is a growing problem with ebooks which can
be repeatedly revised without obvious modifications to the publication
date. This is also a problem with dated blog articles. A snapshot in
the Wayback Machine seems to be one of the few ways to establish
confidence in the date of a blog article.

Using Garson or GO’T is fine, James.

Garson

On Thu, Jan 12, 2023 at 6:36 PM James Eric Lawson <jel at nventure.com> wrote:
>
> 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

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