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

[Shapiro, Fred]

Correction: In the 1908 citation it is "tack" rather than "tock."

Fred Shapiro



________________________________
From: Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2023 7:01 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Antedating of "Tick-Tack-Toe"

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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