[Ads-l] "Drop"

[Jesse Sheidlower]

OED has two examples (one transitive, one intransitive) of this from May 1988:

1988 _Spin_ May 44/3 I think that I should be able to drop records when I want.

1988 _Spin_ May 45/1 Maybe after my album drops and I'm back on the road doing what I'm supposed to do in this world, I'll be happy.

The OED entry is restricted to musical recordings, rather than the broader sense we're now discussing.

Jesse Sheidlower

On Mon, May 22, 2023 at 12:30:47PM -0400, ADSGarson O'Toole wrote:
> Excellent citation, Bill. Here is an instance of "drop an album" from 1988.
> 
> Date: Jun 8, 1988
> Newspaper: USA TODAY
> Newspaper location: McLean, Virginia
> Article title: Run-D.M.C. fight their bad rap
> Author: James T. Jones IV.
> Page Number: 04D.
> 
> [Begin excerpt]
> "We were doing so many other things," Run says, "making a movie,
> touring. And when we were ready to drop an album, we had trouble with
> our record company."
> [End excerpt]
> 
> Below is "drop an album" with a very different meaning in 1987. Below
> "drop an album" means stop promoting.
> 
> Date: May 1, 1987
> Periodical: Musician
> Periodical location: Gloucester, UK
> Article title: FACES: CROWDED HOUSE
> Author: Charles M. Young
> Issue 103,
> Start Page 18, Quote Page 20
> 
> [Begin excerpt]
> "Success has kind of stunned me too," says Finn. "Capitol has been
> just amazingly committed to the record. In Split Enz I saw just how
> fast a record company can drop an album. If something doesn't go right
> in the first few weeks, they think something's odd and they stop
> working it.
> [End excerpt]
> 
> Garson
> 
> On Mon, May 22, 2023 at 10:18 AM Bill Mullins <amcombill at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > I probably first ran across this usage in reference to musicians "dropping" a new album, track, etc.
> >
> > 1994 NY Daily News 23 Feb 19/4
> > Salt-n-Pepa just dropped a new album, which is all over the charts.
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
> > Sent: Monday, May 22, 2023 7:35 AM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: "Drop"
> >
> > To release to the public; announce.
> >
> > I've been seeing and hearing this a whole lot in the past few months .
> >
> > <goog_1644883552>
> > https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/walmart-deals-dyson-samsung-191003952.html :
> >
> > Walmart just dropped 50+ incredible early Memorial Day deals, starting at $8.
> >
> > Old people will think this means Walmart rescinded those deals, but they'd be wrong.
> >
> > JL
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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