[Ads-l] Antedating "mammoth" (big) - 1801 (was "big cheese" 1815)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Great work, Peter. Another researcher clipped the same text from a
newspaper published a bit earlier. Thus, investigators are interested
in this adjective.

Date: May 11, 1801
Newspaper: Hartford Courant
Newspaper Location: Hartford, Connecticut
Quote Page 3

https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-first-mammoth-adjective/29042813/

[Begin excerpt]
Trenton, April 28.
On Thursday last was brought to this place the famous MAMMOTH OX, bred
by John Humphries of Hopewell, in this county.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Thu, Jun 1, 2023 at 1:12 PM Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> “Mammoth,” as an adjective referring to something big.
>
> A few months earlier than my last post.  Not related to a big cheese.
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> New Jersey. Trenton, April 28. On Thursday last was brought to this place the famous MAMMOTH OX, bred by John Humphries of Hopewell, in this county.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Green Mountain Patriot (Peacham, Vermont), May 28, 1801, page 3.
>
> I was a bit disappointed to find it earlier than the “mammoth cheese” because it seemed to be a more interesting story if the adjective sense of “mammoth” had originated in reference to a “big cheese.”
>
> Mammoths were in the news at the time, because Peale’s museum in Philadelphia had just assembled and displayed a full mammoth skeleton for the first time anywhere.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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