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

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Interesting topic, JL. Excellent lead, Fred.
The phrase "Tic-tac-toe, three in a row" occurs below in 1878 (I
think), but it is not clear whether it refers to the game of today.

Part of the text is cut off in the scan.

Date: 1878 October
Periodical: New Dominion Monthly
Published by John Dougall & Son, Montreal
Section: Young Folks
Article: A Life in the Stage: A Story for Boys
Start Page 462, Quote Page 466, Column 2

https://books.google.com/books?id=V685RfuwRmQC&q=%22Tic%2C+tac%22#v=snippet&

[Begin excerpt - please double check text and date]
But can this comfortable, ea...
going man, who walks up to the v...
andah and seating himself on the
vacant chair says with a quiet laugh
"Tic-tac-toe, three in a row--...
this be our little thin, pale-faced S...
[End excerpt]

The cut-off words might be "easy" and veranda".

Garson

On Wed, Jul 12, 2023 at 7:03 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:
>
> 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
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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