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

[James Eric Lawson]

Good early finding, Garson. That researcher's clippings collection 
suggests an interest in large prehistoric, legendary and fictional 
creatures (viz clippings about Alley Oop, Godzilla, dinosaurs, etc.) 
rather than an interest in the particular adjective.

On 6/1/23 10:38, ADSGarson O'Toole wrote:
> 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

-- 
James Eric Lawson

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