[Ads-l] Antedating of "Tick-Tack-Toe"

Shapiro, Fred fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU
Wed Jul 12 23:01:28 UTC 2023


tick-tack-toe (OED, b., 1960)

1895 _St. Louis Post-Dispatch_ 10 Dec. 7/1 (Newspapers.com)  It was "tick, tack, toe, three in a row."

1908 _Cincinnati Enquirer_ 9 July 2/6 (Newspapers.com)  Up to the stage they went, tick, tock, toe, three in a row. like the figures we used to make on our slate when the teacher wasn't looking.

Fred Shapiro

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


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