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

[Shapiro, Fred]

I think "three in a row" is a dead giveaway that the modern game is being alluded to.  Good find, Garson.

Fred Shapiro



________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2023 7:39 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Antedating of "Tick-Tack-Toe"

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://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DV685RfuwRmQC%26q%3D%2522Tic%252C%2Btac%2522%23v%3Dsnippet%26&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C7669f85fee1b47304df108db83314369%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638248019846218485%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=dhT17Xr%2BK%2Bzc0eeXeoT5d2rOUO9DmZhwZpoI%2BniWCxw%3D&reserved=0<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 - https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C7669f85fee1b47304df108db83314369%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638248019846218485%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=dAHf%2BoQTbnm3nPdfxnA2sei6eTo79xgJxJgoWLuMHaM%3D&reserved=0<http://www.americandialect.org/>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C7669f85fee1b47304df108db83314369%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638248019846218485%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=dAHf%2BoQTbnm3nPdfxnA2sei6eTo79xgJxJgoWLuMHaM%3D&reserved=0<http://www.americandialect.org/>

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